Rosie's Angel
by maxigrumpling
Summary: Rose and Emmett must travel to save the life of the baby left behind by a vampire who dies after coming to help during the Romanian War. A short story about how the newest Cullen joined the coven. Book Four after Bella's Dawn.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does. I am just lucky enough to get to mess with her wonderful characters.**

**This story slots in at the end of Bella's Dawn. This will be short, only a few chapters, and will tell the story of how Emmett and Rosalie came to have a baby of their own. It is required reading if you would like to go on to read the next book, Book Four (Which as yet has no name) in the Cullen's Pride, Phoenix Rising, Bella's Dawn series. **

**Thank you to Patchar for her inspired advice and for the great idea that is this little story. **

Chapter 1 – Prelude to Bliss

**EPOV**

"You have to go now." I hissed right into my brother's face. "Don't go home first, go now, to the airport. There are tickets and clothes and shit there already. Call when you can, but go now." I was pushing Emmett away from me and towards the opening between the trees that would point him in the direction of Port Angeles. I was hoping he'd take seriously what I needed him to do without me having to spend an age explaining it.

"What the fuck are you on about Ed?" He asked. "Where the fuck am I going and why?"

Rosie approached us then and I knew that Alice had told her what was going on because the look on her face was horrified and excited all at once. "Good luck." I told her as she came to collect her husband.

"Thanks." She said to me quietly then turned to Emmett. "Come on babe, we need to run." She reached out her hand for his and he put it in her palm without question.

His devotion to her was unconditional and he trusted her implicitly. He just had no idea where he was going and why. Rosie did and she planned to explain it to him as they ran for the airport.

**RPOV**

"Just run big guy, come on, I'll explain while we run." I told my husband as we sped through the forest.

"Yeah, okay, but tell a guy before he dies wondering." He whined.

We sidestepped the fallen tree at the mouth of the clearing and ran towards the path that would lead us to the house. I grabbed for his sleeve, or what was left of it, and pulled him onto the right hand path that would take us to Port Angeles. "This way babe, we're flying today."

"We are?" He sounded so worried.

"We are. Listen, and just remember I don't have the full story yet either, so I can only tell you what Alice told me, right?" I waited for his usual grunt that told me he'd heard before I went on. "So Eric has a human mate and she's having a baby, like Nessa."

"Oh shit babe, are we the bad news party then?" He asked, obviously thinking we were being sent to tell Eric's mate of his demise.

"No, keep running moron." I chastised him for coming to a stop. When he'd caught up to me again I tried to start again. "Alice says the girl is human dumb ass. She's gonna die giving birth and Eric's not there to take care of the baby. That's where we come in."

I gave it a moment to sink in and then I heard him gasp. Yeah, welcome to the program Em I thought.

He did come to a stop then. He skidded to a halt and I did too. He grabbed me by the tops of my arms and squeezed me hard. "Are you saying we're going to Maine to retrieve the kid?" He asked, his eyes as wide as I'd ever seen them.

"Yeah, we are. If you want to, that is. I mean, we always said we wanted to be parents but if you want to give it to Bella and Ed and let them..." I didn't get any further than that before he was kissing me.

It was all the answer I needed. I let the kiss play out a little ways and then I pulled away and grabbed his hand again. We had twenty minutes before check in closed and as I was it was going to be tight time wise.

But Em was on board now, he'd gotten with the program just as I'd hoped he would.

Finally, finally after nearly eighty years together we were going to be parents. That someone was going to have to die for us to have this chance was yet to sink in.

**EMPOV**

Hot damn!

We're gonna get ourselves a bubba to love!

I couldn't really get my head around it yet. The idea that I was gonna be someone's dad. Wow. I'd given up that idea eons ago, a few days after my change actually. Rosie had explained it all to me, what I was now and how I had to put aside all the human things I wanted from my life. I never questioned it. I was just happy to have survived, in any way I could.

But now? Now it looked like we were going to be given a chance to raise a child. I'd daydreamed about it, sure, but I'd never mentioned any of the things I'd dreamed about to Rosie. She did it tough about things like that.

We'd both done it tough when Ed and Bell's announced they were expecting. We were ecstatic for them, for sure, but in the days after the announcement Rosie and I both went through a little mourning period. We grieved for our lost chance and tried to console each other through our fits of jealousy and rage. Neither of us could comprehend that it was Edward, of all the nerdy weedy little fuckers we knew, who was to be given the chance we both wanted. We didn't begrudge him particularly, we were just pissed that someone was going to be able to be a parent and it wasn't going to be us.

I loved the little prick and he was the best brother a guy could ask for. But, him getting absolutely everything he'd ever dreamed of had cut me bad. Oh sure he'd had a pretty foul existence up until he laid eyes on Bella. He'd been lonely and miserable for a long time. Plus he'd had to watch all of us find our mates and fall in love. He didn't complain though, he just went about his business in the same broody bitch boy way he always did.

I wasn't too proud to admit I was jealous of the little prick when he made his announcement though, not too proud at all. In fact I'd admitted it to Rosie pretty much straight away and she'd admitted to me that she was more than a little pissed that Bella had come so easily to our way of life AND was going to get a kid into the bargain.

So we'd helped each other through all of that and had come out the other end pretty strong. No harm done. Plus we got the munchkin into the bargain.

Now I loved my family but that kid, Nessa, she was something else. Besides Rosie she was the one I loved the most. I'd do anything for that kid, and I had today.

She was the bright shining light in all our lives. Just like her mother she turned our lives upside down when she showed up. Pretty traumatic way to come into our family too. That was a hell of a few days.

But once Eddie had relinquished his hold on her for more than five minutes and let us have a chance to get to know the little pink whirlwind we all fell in love with her pretty much instantly. Especially Rosie.

Now that the whole fucking mess with the Romanians was over I hoped we'd get a chance to teach the little savage at Ed's school. Seems the gods had something else in store for us first.

Rosie pulled me to a stop just at the edge of the trees that bordered the highway heading into Port Angeles.

We walked across the four lanes of traffic as though it was a normal everyday thing to do. Humans were basically dumb. If you did things at a normal pace they generally took no notice. It was the rushing around at super speeds and being extra strong they took notice of. So I tried not to do that shit when they were around. They smelled pretty good though.

Rosie and I walked through the parking lot and right into the terminal. I hoped she knew where we were going and how we were going to get there because I bloody didn't. She didn't hesitate when we got inside so I figured she did.

She led us right to the United information desk and announced that the Cullen's had arrived. A pair of tickets and a locker key was handed over and the chick told us the flight was due to leave in half an hour and we should make our way to the departure lounge on the second level. Rosie thanked her and then we headed to the bank of escalators.

I stood behind her on the moving sidewalk and took in her appearance. She was a mess. Her jeans were ripped at the hem and stained with mud and grass all along her thighs. Her top was stretched and dirty and her hair was like a birds nest. Jesus Christ she was hot! Sure, not my wife's usual look, but I still wanted her all the same. I didn't look too good either though. I was stained and ripped too. It had been a brutal fight. I'd lost a fucking hand at one point!

Hurt like a bitch too. It's been a long fucking time since anything hurt me other than mentally. I can tell you that had I been able to cry I fucking would have.

Fucking Charles put it in his pocket! Can you believe that shit? I saw it hit the deck and then he just scooped it up and put it in his pocket. Fucking lucky he did too because I was in no condition to be thinking straight.

I knew the hand could be reattached as long as it was kept and knowing Charles had it was comforting. So I put it out of my mind and continued to fight.

Carlisle had found me soon after the last of the mongrels was finished and he made me lie down on the ground while he pushed my hand back onto the stump at the end of my wrist. He told me to lie still for a while, to let it knit properly, but I was desperate for word of who had perished and who had survived. I had seen Alice running towards my Rose and my stomach had clenched with fear. She looked okay, they both did, so I had no way to know what the problem actually was.

I looked to the other side and saw Edward running towards me. I was fine, my hand had already healed, so the pained look on his face I thought was useless concern for me. That's when he'd told me I had to get to the airport fast. That's how I now found myself standing in front of a rented locker fishing out a change of clothes, a wallet, ID, a cell phone and a page of typed directions for Maine.

"Alice and Edward." Both Rosie and I whispered in unison. We were both well acquainted with the modus operandi of our little sister and the nerdy git that was our brother. She was the consummate planner. He was the worrier. "I wonder how long they've known?" I mused out loud.

"They didn't say. Come on." Rose led me away from the lockers and towards the restrooms by the departure lounge. "Get changed. Throw your old clothes in the rubbish in there. We've only got ten minutes before the flight leaves and they'll be calling us to board soon." She kissed me lightly on the cheek and took her own pile of clean clothes into the ladies restroom next door.

I slid into a stall and tore off my putrid clothes. Someone had even thought to put in clean jocks so I was happy to change completely. The stalls were never big enough though, so I crashed and bashed my way through the process, scaring the shit out of the human in the stall beside me. "Sorry dude, just changing my clothes." I muttered as I pulled on the jeans and did them up.

I threw the pile of stinking clothes into the rubbish bin under the hand basins and then I flicked through the wallet. Credit cards, a thick wad of cash, ID in my own name and a driver's license too. As annoying as my brother and sister could be, they were pretty handy in times like this.

I waited in a seat in the departure area for Rosie. While I waited I began to read the typed notes Edward had left for us. I knew they were from Edward because the instructions were so fucking anal. Turn left three hundred meters after the first gate of the cemetery. If you see the bed and breakfast you have gone too far, return to the cemetery and begin again. Sheesh. What a wanker. Why not just write go down that road and when you see the right house stop there?

**RPOV**

I took a moment to watch Emmett. It was so damn good to see him laughing again. It had been such a long time since I'd seen those dimples. My heart swelled with emotion as I watched him reading over the typed pages.

While I looked better and felt physically better than I had for over a month, my mind was still stuck somewhere in that clearing. I knew my family and friends were still cleaning up the monumental mess there and I felt bad that I'd left them to do it without me. But on the other hand I was so excited about the trip we were about embark on. A child. For us.

I'd been so happy when Emmett agreed we'd raise the child ourselves. I was scared and elated and excited and worried all at once. In many ways this was more frightening than what we'd just faced. This was the unknown for us both. Even though we'd been right there with Bella and Ed when Nessa was little and we'd watched her grown since then, neither of us had any idea how to raise a child, let alone birth one.

I walked towards my husband and took the seat beside him. He threw me a quick smile and then handed me the top page of his reading. "I'm sorry, but Edward is a giant knob sometimes. Get a load of his instructions, babe." He chuckled.

I read the first page and had to laugh too. God he was anal. Sometimes Alice could be a pain in the ass with her constant planning, but Edward took the cake!

Turn right from the airport parking. The large expanse of woods are NOT hunting grounds. They are a public golf course. Continue on past it until you cross over the river and the road becomes South Main Street. Turn right into South Main Street and continue on until it becomes River Road. Turn left onto Snows Corner Road, it is the eleventh exit or left hand turn after the conversion of the two main roads. Why didn't he just type drive until you see the right house then stop there? I couldn't read anymore, it was too funny.

I leaned back in my seat and really laughed. Emmett was laughing too. "God he's such a prissy little bitch, isn't he?" He mumbled under this breath.

"Yeah. He is. Kinda sweet though." I conceded.

"If you say so babe." He countered and I laughed again.

Our flight was announced then, over the tannoy. Emmett gathered all the pages back up into a neat pile and I watched as he folded them into thirds and shoved them into the back pocket of his jeans. He took my hand and we got into line behind the luscious smelling humans.

"You alright?" I asked him, nodding to the back of the woman in front of us.

"Never better." He replied squeezing my hand. "You?" he asked.

"Totally." I agreed. I wasn't thirsty. I was nervous and anxious and still geed up from winning the fight, but I wasn't thirsty.

We didn't have much time to sort out our own plan on the first leg of the flight because it was only eighty minutes long. By the time we went through the palaver of the flight security demonstration and got up to altitude it was time to come back down again.

Our flight from Sea-Tac left on time, for once, so we had eight long hours to talk about what had just happened and what we were going to find when we got to Maine. Our flight would stop in Newark and then we had another two hours short hop to Bangor in Maine. We wouldn't get there until almost dawn, but of course we'd never get tired like the humans travelling with us would. So we could spend hours talking.

"Read me the info on the girl again babe." Emmett asked as we reached altitude on the last leg of the trip.

I pulled the crumpled paper from the pocket of the seat in front of me and read it to him again. There wasn't a lot to read, but what was there might end up being critical information so I didn't begrudge having to read it to him for the fifth time since we'd gotten in the air.

"Okay. She's 24 and lives in Eric's house in Brewer. Neat two bedroom up and down. Nothing special apparently. They aren't married but they are mates. Alice believes he loved her, really loved her. She refused to be changed and Eddie is sure it's too late to try that now that she's so close to giving birth. Alice thinks she understands what's going on, she knows she won't survive the birth." I took a deep breath and paused there for a bit. It was a huge sacrifice she was going to make, dying to give the child a chance. I knew I could make that choice too, but wondered how I'd feel about Renesmee had we lost Bella in order to have Nessa. I gave my head a short shake and then went on. "She won't know Eric has perished, we'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you tell her. Alice can't see the outcome either way. Tell her or don't, it's up to you. At first we thought she was only two days off giving birth, but you might have as many as five or six up your sleeve. That should give you both time to counsel her, earn her trust a little, help her through whatever preparations she needs to make before the birth. We have no way to know of her family, any parents or siblings she might have and still have contact with. Go carefully, Eric gave no indication either verbally or mentally that he'd made any provision for a worst case scenario." I looked to Emmett only to find him deep in thought and tapping his temple thoughtfully. "What is it, Em?" I asked.

"Don't know. I got a nagging feeling we're forgetting something. It'll come to me. Keep going."

"Okay. Carlisle will be on hand if you need any medical advice. We haven't told him anything yet but we will once you get there. Stay as long as you need to once the baby is delivered. There are return tickets for you all booked under your real names. The baby will travel simply as 'baby Cullen' for now. There is no way to know if any provisions were purchased prior to Eric leaving to come to Forks. We'll handle all that from this end, but at that end you'll be on your own. Eric has a vehicle there at his home but if it's of no use, or unsuitable, I've reserved a family sedan at the airport. Details are with the information desk at the destination end. God he's thought of everything huh?" I asked Emmett for the hundredth time.

"Yeah. Not bad at short notice. Eric only showed up yesterday afternoon. Couldn't have been easy to throw all this together on top of what he was already dealing with. He might be a little bitch but he's fucking smart hey?" Emmett chuckled softly.

"I won't tell him if you don't." I laughed my agreement.

"So, you up for this, babe?" He asked reaching for my hand.

I laughed softly, "Not really, no. But here I am anyway." I told him truthfully.

"Yeah, I get that. I can't believe we won't today." He said quietly. For a big guy he was actually pretty deep. He felt things acutely but he rarely showed anyone that side of himself, only me.

"I'm amazed we're still here to be honest. When I saw Vasile grab for you, god, I lost it babe, I really lost it." I told him as I slid my head onto his shoulder.

He stroked the inside of my palm the way he knew I liked and I felt him take in a big gulp of air. "Yeah." Was all he said. We didn't need to say much else really. The fight was over, we'd won, the Romanians were no more.

A loud snore from the human behind us made us start but we were soon trying hard to stifle our laughter.

Emmett took a cell phone from his jeans pocket and looked at it before showing it to me. We only had a few minutes before the flight attendants would begin waking the humans and telling them to prepare for landing.

I folded the typed pages and put them into the front pocket of the backpack someone had provided with our change of clothes. I figured it was Ed, I didn't notice Alice sneaking off anywhere yesterday. Whoever it was they'd pretty much thought of everything.

Half an hour later I had Edward's typed instructions in front of me as Emmett signed for our rental car. It was almost sunrise and I was beginning to wonder if we should just turn up at Eric's house or whether we should find somewhere to hunt first and while away a couple of hours.

"Come on, babe." Emmett put his arm around my shoulders and led me out of the airport and into the parking lot where a brand new shiny black Mercedes S Class stood waiting for us. "Sweet." Emmett hissed as he took the wheel and got us the hell away from the delicious humans and their pathetic vehicles.

**EMPOV**

Edward might be a bitch boy but he knew cars. I knew it was him who'd rented us this beast of a machine and not Alice because had she done it we'd be driving around in a VW Beetle with pink and yellow flowers painted on it!

Rosie acted as navigator and soon we were speeding along River Road looking for Snows Corner Road just like Edward said we should. A few miles past the cemetery we came to a property with a locked iron gate. There was no letterbox or house number that we could see but it was a neat little place, nothing special like Edward had said it would be. I parked in the drive in front of the gates and got out to see if there was a call button or any sign of life on the property.

Just to the left of the gate was a small round metal plaque with Eric Sumer printed on it in black lettering. It was the right place, but how to get in.

"Just snap the lock big guy." Rosie huffed from inside the car.

I didn't really want to do that, it wasn't going to bode well for gaining the girls trust if we just showed up and let ourselves in, but I was left with no choice really. I put a finger on either side of the lock and pressed, it gave easily, of course.

I swung the gates back on themselves and lowered the little metal rods into their holders at the side of the drive, anchoring the gates in place while I drove through. I parked near the house and then ran back to secure the gates again. The lock was history so I wound the chain through the bars just the once and then I slid a finger into one of its links and prised it open. I slid the two open ends over a solid link and closed the open ends again. New lock. Well done Em.

Rosie was out of the car and studying the outside of house by the time I got back to her side. There was no sound other than the rapidly beating heart of the human inside the dwelling. She was either scared already or she was in some sort of trouble.

"Listen." Rosie said, but I was already pounding on the front door.

There was no reply and I was about to kick the door in when I heard a feint whimper from above us. I stepped back into the drive and looked up at the front of the house. There was a window that faced the road and it was slightly ajar. I could hear the whimpering again and it was coming from up there.

I kicked the front door in and ran through the bottom floor searching for the way up to the top floor. At the back, behind the kitchen, was a slim staircase.

Rose was right beside me when I got to the top of it. The whimpering was steady now that we were inside.

"Eric." A feeble voice called from the open door ahead of the stairs. "Eric." It called again.

Rosie grimaced. This was going to be bad, real bad. From the stench of the place I guessed the girl was in real trouble. Human excrement and stale body odour greeted us as we made our way across the landing to the bedroom door.

Rose pulled me back when I went to go inside the room. "Wait. Let me." She said. "Call Carlisle, I've got a feeling we might need him." And then she went inside.

Her soft muffled gasp told me more than I wanted to know. It was bad.

I ran back down the stairs and out into the yard, freeing my nose from the stench. I dialled Carlisle's cell and he answered right away. "How is she?" Were his first words.

"I don't know yet, Rosie is in with her. It smells real bad here though, like she's sick." I told him.

He cursed quietly and then told me to go to Rosie and ask what she knew. I asked him to hold on and I went back inside and up the stairs towards the bedroom. The girl was moaning now. Rosie was talking to her softly.

"It's okay now, we're here to help. Can you sit up?" She was asking.

A soft grunting noise came from the girl, she must have sat up because I heard Rose saying 'good girl'.

"Rosie, Carlisle wants to know how she is, babe." I was stood outside the bedroom door. I didn't want to go in unless I was invited.

"Put him on speaker." She asked.

I clicked the little button with the loudspeaker symbol on it and put the cell phone on the floor in the doorway. I went back to standing with my back to the wall. "Go on." I told her.

"Dad, she's sick." Rosie said and I cursed. "A fever, sweating, she's terribly thin and she's got diarrhoea and has been vomiting recently." I heard Rosie inform Carlisle.

"Alright. Get her cleaned up, clean up the room, sterile if you can. When you're done call me back. I'm going to organise a blood drop for you and some equipment. Get Emmett ready to collect it." I heard Carlisle say.

"I'm on it Doc." I told him and snatched the phone from the floor. "I'll get some cleaning gear babe, you get her into a bath." I told Rosie.

"On it." She called from inside the room.

"Eric." The girl whimpered again.

"Hush baby girl. There'll be time for that later. We have to take care of you and your baby now." Rosie said tenderly.

I raced back down the stairs and into the little laundry room beside the kitchen. I grabbed the mop and bucket from the floor and threw some cleaning rags into it. I opened the pantry beside the washer and dryer and threw in bottles of bleach and disinfectant. There was some air freshener in there too so I threw that in as well. I ran up the stairs and put all that on the landing. Beside where I'd been leaning on the wall was a linen cupboard. I grabbed clean sheets, some towels and a couple of blankets from it and went back to the bedroom door.

"You okay in there?" I called.

I could hear the water running in a shower and assumed, seeing as they hadn't come back out past me, that they were in an ensuite bathroom.

"Yeah, we're good." Rosie called.

"I'm going into the bedroom, okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, do what you need to babe." Rosie called out at me.

The room was a fucking horror!

The stench was so bad in it I began to gag almost immediately. So my first job was to throw open all the windows. I ripped the bedclothes off used them to mop up the mess beside and under the bed. Piles of vomit and excrement stood beside the bed. If it was this bad after only three days I hated to think what we would've found had we come any later.

Tucked just under the side of the bed was a small foam container. It smelled pretty bad too but I could guess what was in this one without having to open its lid. Blood. Bad blood too by the smell of it. I rolled the whole container into one of the blankets from the bed and set it outside the bedroom door. That I'd have to investigate outdoors.

I gathered the sheets and threw them down the stair well onto the floor at the bottom. They'd have to be burnt. There was no salvaging attempt that could save them now.

I emptied my bucket out onto the floor and ran back down stairs and filled it with hot water. Once back upstairs with it I tipped half a bottle of antiseptic into it and began to mop up the mess on the mattress. Thankfully it wasn't too bad. There had been a protector on it, thank god, and only a little spillage. Once that was cleaned I flipped the mattress over.

I wiped every surface I could possibly wipe with the disinfectant and then I mopped the floors until they shined. Not waiting for it to dry I remade the bed and threw all the filthy rags I'd used down the stairs to join the sheets. The smell wasn't completely gone but it was heaps better none the less.

It didn't smell like death anymore and that was an improvement.

I took the putrid bucket and its contents back down the stairs and I poured it out into the grass in the backyard. I threw the sheets and towels out there too. I'd light them on fire come sundown.

I went back for the blanketed bundle and took it with me outside. I set it on a wicker table that stood in the centre of a little round gazebo. I tore a small branch from a low hanging tree to the side of the gazebo and then I held my nose while I flipped the containers lid off.

The stench was appalling.

From my position about three feet away I could see that the blood had congealed in the small cup it was in and that it was already black. If she'd drunk any of that, which I hopes to Christ she hadn't, she was probably sicker than I'd first thought.

It must have been there for days. I knew from when Carlisle was getting blood for Nessa that it would only last for two days, if it was human and it was refrigerated. In a cooler box like that, in an unsealed container like that cup it wouldn't last half a day. It would be sour and hot and ...argh... I couldn't imagine how bad it would taste. I didn't even know what it had come from. It was so badly decomposed it might have been from an animal or it could've been from a human, there was no way to tell it was in such bad shape.

I took two steps forward and put the lid back onto the container. The smell stayed with me for a little while and I hoped it would wear off before I had to go back upstairs. It would undo all the good I'd just done if it did.

I went into the little kitchen and filled the kettle with water. I set it to boil and then I went searching for things to make her some tea. The refrigerator was full of food but I knew she didn't have the energy to use any of it to help herself. There was no way someone who had made that much mess would've been able to go up and down those stairs. She'd lain in that bed since Eric had left here. I could only hope, for the sake of his soul, that he'd left her in good health and hadn't set out for our war knowing she was already poorly.

When the kettle was done doing its thing I poured the hot water over a tea bag like I'd seen Esme do for Charlie and Renee. I added cream and some sugar and I stirred it until it looked about right.

I filled a pitcher with cold water from a bottle in the refrigerator and set that on a little wooden tray I'd found standing on its end beside the oven.

"Okay Em." Rosie called from upstairs.

I guessed that was my cue to go on up there and meet the girl. I took the tray and headed up.

**RPOV**

The room was blissful compared to how it had been. He'd done a fantastic job. It still smelled pretty bad but much better than it did before. Hopefully the human couldn't smell the rancid odour of the bad blood anymore.

I'd smelled it the instant I came into the room. I had pinpointed it to the cooler under the edge of the bed but had done my best to ignore it. The girl needed me first.

She was tiny. Skinny except for the huge bulge at her waist. Her cheeks were hollow and her hands were frail and bony. She was still in there though, still fighting to give this baby a chance at life.

She was even smaller once she was naked and I had to stifle my groan of mortification when I'd peeled the nightie off her body and helped her to stand under the shower. She was too frail and too sick to be lowered into a bath tub. Her ribs were protruding at her back and her hipbones were so defined across top of her ass they looked like they were going to cut through her skin. She was weak too. I had to hold her up the whole time she'd stood under the spray. In the end I got her to sit on the side of the tub and lean forward so I could wash the vomit from her hair. She apologised over and over, telling me how sorry she was to look and smell the way she did.

I told her not to worry about it, that we'd fix it and she'd feel much better.

I didn't even know her name and she didn't know mine yet either. But already I felt something for this girl. And she was just a girl, maybe twenty- two or twenty- three years old. She must have been quite something a few months back because she'd managed to stay alive this long despite the fact that her parasitic child was killing her slowly from the inside out.

I left her sitting on the edge of the cleaned up bed while I hunted for clean clothes for her. She pointed one long emaciated finger in the direction of the dresser and I retrieved some soft cotton panties and a long white night gown from the drawers.

I slid the panties up her legs to her knees and let her pull them the rest of the way up. She held her arms as far above her head as she could while I slid the nightgown over her hands and down over her head and body.

I'd asked her to stay there while I brushed her hair for her. It was lank and fell from the crown of her head in one long lifeless sheet. I found some clips on the top of the dresser so I used them to pin her hair away from her face so she'd be more comfortable when lying in the bed.

I held her tightly to me and lowered her slowly back onto the mountain of pillows Em had left for her. I pulled the sheet over her legs and up under her belly. She smiled weakly and closed her eyes for a moment.

I called for Emmett and heard him coming up the stairs.

I took the girls hand in mine as I sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm Rosalie and this is Emmett." I told her as he came into the room and set a tray on the beside cabinet.

She had enormous brown eyes, like Bella had had when she was human. But other than that she bore no resemblance to anyone I'd ever seen. She was just another human to me. Her hair was a mousy brown and her bangs were wispy and thin. She wore no jewellery of any kind and from what I'd seen in the dresser her clothes were just normal tops and jeans. She could've been anyone before, now she was an emaciated mess.

Emmett handed her the mug of tea and she clutched it in her hands quite happily. She took small sips in between staring first at me and then at Em.

Apart from her apologies in the bathroom she'd not spoken other than to say her mates name. I wondered what she was waiting for.

"How do you feel now?" Emmett asked softly. He went to stand by the bathroom door.

"Better." The girl whispered. "Where's Eric? When is he coming home?" She asked with wide eyes.

I looked to Em and grimaced. I turned back around to face her and knew that I couldn't tell her the truth, she'd not survive that. "He's still busy with the war, love." I told her. I reached for her hand and patted it carefully. "He sent us to be with you because he couldn't be."

A single tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. "I thought something had happened to him." She sobbed.

Emmett cringed. "No, he's fine, better than that, he's great. He's out there helping to plan. He's real useful, with his ability to talk to the wolves and all." He lied smoothly. He came to sit on the other side of the bed. "He'd be here if he could. But he needs to be out there or they won't win the fight."

"I know. He's worried the bad people will come for our baby if he doesn't fight." She cupped her hand over her stomach and my heart clenched for her. She knew she was going to die but still her thoughts were for the baby and for Eric.

I knew then we'd done the right thing keeping the truth of his demise from her. No good could come from her knowing he'd perished. She would die thinking he was a hero, gone off to war, to fight for the rights of his child. When in reality he'd died protecting another child. It was a terrible situation. Again I wondered how long my brother and sister had known and how they'd managed to stay as calm as they had while everything unfolded.

"Then they are lucky to have him with them." Emmett lied. "He'll be a great asset and he'll be home soon." He reached for the now empty tea cup and replaced it in her hands with a glass of water. "Drink that, you'll feel better for it." He told her.

She gulped it down but I could tell it was an effort. "What have you been eating?" I asked.

"Not a lot. I can't keep too much of anything down other than blood, but that's been so hard for Eric to come by. I've been trying to eat normal food but the baby doesn't like it anymore." She again cradled her belly with her hand.

I longed to touch it too. And not just because the baby inside her was soon going to be mine. I wasn't that shallow or that thoughtless. I wanted to make sure that the baby was okay in there, that it was moving about and thriving even as it killed its own mother.

"The blood in that cooler, how long was it there and what was it?" Emmett asked carefully.

She cringed at the thought of it and I didn't blame her. "I don't know what it was but it tasted awful even when it was fresh. Eric left three days ago." She whimpered at the thought.

Emmett's cell began to ring then. "It's Carlisle." He announced and stood from the bed and went out into the hall.

"That's our father. Our sire actually." I told her. "He's a doctor, a surgeon. He's going to help us get you well again." I told her.

I could hear Emmett explaining the contents of the cooler and organising to collect a fresh supply in town. The girl passed the empty glass to me and I set it on the tray. "There isn't much point getting me well. I'll die when it comes anyway." She whispered as she sunk down into the bed further.

I choked back my sob and reached for her face. I ran my thumb over her cheek and stared into her eyes. "I know, sweetie. But you want the baby to be born healthy, right?" I asked her carefully. There was no point denying it. We both knew it was true. She'd come to terms with that long before I knew of her existence. She nodded weakly and closed her eyes to sleep. "Rest now. We'll be downstairs if you need anything, just call, we'll hear."

I patted her hair and made to leave when her hand darted out from under the covers and grabbed for mine. Her grip was so weak it was as though a butterfly had landed on my wrist. "Thank you. So much." She whispered hoarsely. "My name is May and my baby's name is Angel."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter contains medical information and situations that some may find offensive or disturbing. It is done with the utmost respect to the girl suffering it all and I hope I have done her story justice. I have taken some creative license with regard to her baby and its parastic nature, I hope you will forgive me this in order to enhance the overall story. **

Chapter 2 – Interlude to Paradise

**RPOV**

I went with Emmett downstairs and helped him to set the bottom floor of the little house to rights. We washed the clothing that was piled on the floor of the laundry. We cleaned the kitchen until it shone. I could still smell the evil foam cooler even though it sat, with its lid firmly on, outside in the back yard.

"Her name's May." I whispered to my husband as we sat on the concrete step at the back of the house.

"Yeah, I heard." He replied quietly. "So, that baby is a girl?" He asked.

"Sounds like it. I don't know how she knows that though. Bella could never find out and she was convinced Nessa was a boy, it was Ed who thought she was a girl." I mused.

"Dunno." Was all he said.

We hadn't said too much to each other since we'd arrived. We'd been full of hope for our future and for the future of the baby before we'd come here, before we'd seen the state of the place and met the girl. Now we both seemed as though we were suffering some sort of shell shock. As though our imaginations had let us think things were going to be simple, clean cut and that we'd just come here, let her give birth and take the baby home. That wasn't the case now we were here. Even if she'd been perfectly healthy it was ridiculous to think, to have ever thought, that bringing this baby home was going to be easy.

"I don't know if I can do this." I admitted.

He put his hand in mine and brought them both to his lips. "We have to." He said calmly. Emmett was rarely calm, but when I needed him he was my rock. "The baby will die if we aren't here when it's born. So we gotta do this. But I know what you're saying, and I totally get it, babe. I had this picture in my head of a neat little house with a pregnant chick in it who would be propped up on some white linen pillows. She'd give birth, we'd watch over her while she passed on, we'd clean up the baby and fly home. Now? Not gonna happen quite like that." He grimaced.

I blew out my held breath. He felt exactly the same way I did! Emmett was not a thinker, but I often underestimated him. I squeezed his hand tighter. "I know. I feel exactly the same. I'm scared. She's so frail. And the baby could be ill too and we're the only ones here. I'd feel much better if dad was here, hell I'd even take Edward right now."

"Yeah." Em agreed. "I been thinkin about that too. You remember on the plane when I said I thought we'd forgotten something?" He asked and I nodded. "Well, I remember what that something is." He grimaced again and I knew I wasn't going to like this.

"What?" I asked tentatively.

"Teeth." Was all he said.

I was about to ask what the hell he was on about when it hit me. That day in the dining room, when the three amigos had returned from Italy. Em had been the one to work out that our teeth were what was going to let Bella give birth to Nessa safely. That someone was going to have to bite through her belly so she could give birth. "Oh hell." I mumbled.

"Oh hell, yeah." He mumbled too.

"I can't think about that yet Em. I just want her to feel better first. I want this place clean and I want her to feel good before any of that happens. Alice said we had a couple of days, let's hope we do."

"She'll be awake again soon, let's clean up in there." He nodded towards the house.

By the time May woke up from her sleep the bottom of the house was as sterile as we could make it without using industrial equipment or chemicals.

I went to tend to May while Emmett called our illustrious leader for further instructions.

She was sitting up in the bed when I got there, I took that as a good sign. She looked a little better, though her overall condition was pretty grim.

"Do you feel any better for having had a rest?" I asked her as I handed her another glass of water.

"I think so." She whispered.

"Good. Emmett's on the phone with Carlisle so he should have some ideas about how to make you feel better still. That fever you're running bothers me." I told her as I put my hand to her forehead.

She didn't cringe away from me so I figured she was comfortable with me being near her. Humans baffled me. Bella had never been scared of me despite my being horrible to her the first few times we'd been close. Now this girl too. She let me touch her, care for her, hell she'd even let me undress her and touch her while she bathed.

"Your eyes?" She mumbled.

I took it as a question about the colour and answered it as such. "We're different from Eric. We hunt only animals." I told her.

Her eyes widened. "Really? You don't have to kill people? Why doesn't Eric do that then?" She asked but I knew it was a rhetorical question. Besides, it wasn't one I could answer on Eric's behalf. I knew, better than most, how hard it was to conform to our chosen way of life.

I could hear Emmett on the phone and knew that he was wrapping the conversation up so I busied myself with tidying the room and when that was done I sat beside May on the bed and held her hand. She trembled slightly but I knew it wasn't in fear of me, more than likely it was fear of what was going to happen to her.

When Emmett came upstairs he was smiling. That was a good start. He plonked himself down on the other side of the bed and showed her his dimples. I fell for it every time and it looked like she was just as susceptible.

"You're looking good sweet thing." He drawled. I was going to shoot him a scowl but in the end, if it made her feel better to have his attention, then I could relinquish it for a little while. "Big Daddy Doc says I need to go into town and collect some supplies he's arranged. He has given me a list of things we need to check, but Rosie can do those." He winked at me.

"Sure I can." I took the list from his huge hand and read it quickly. It was all easy, simple medical things. Nothing that would pose a problem for me. "You can head off and we'll get this list happening."

He nodded and threw us both a smile before he ran off out the door.

I heard the car start and roar down the road so I picked up the list and began my investigation.

I took her pulse and noted the beats per minute on the list. I counted how many breaths she took each minute and wrote that down too. I took her temperature using a little glass thermometer I found in the bathroom cabinet. I asked the questions Carlisle needed the answers to and made as many clear notes as I could on the paper. I had no idea what Carlisle needed to know, and why, but knew that too much information was never enough when it came to Carlisle.

We talked for a little while about how she was feeling and how long she'd been poorly. She told me a little bit about her relationship with Eric and how they came to meet. None of it was going to matter in a few days, but it was nice to know that they'd formed a bond, that they loved each other and that they both desperately loved the child.

Everything she told me steeled my resolve. Telling her that Eric was dead was in nobody's best interest.

"Your family?" I asked her as I folded the pages and put them to the side.

"Gone." She whispered sadly. "My mother died when I was little, breast cancer. My dad had a heart attack three years ago. I didn't have any brothers or sisters so I was on my own when I met Eric."

"And here you are." I mumbled.

"Yeah, here I am." She began to cry quietly and I patted her hand sympathetically. There was nothing I could do for her, nothing I could say to ease the pain of what she was facing. "What about you? Your family, they sound great."

"They are." I said honestly. "There are nine of us now. But when I was changed it was just three of us. My sire my older brother Edward and me. Dad found his mate a few years later and then I found Em. My sister Alice and her husband Jasper came to us a few years later and we were seven for a real long time."

"And your brother found his mate in the end, right? Eric told me that. That your brother changed his mate so she could be one of you." She was watching me very carefully so I knew she was trying to decide whether she'd made the right choice, to stay human, to not let Eric change her.

"Yes. He found his mate sixteen years ago, when she was only little. But they only married just over two years ago now. And yes, she was changed so she could be one of us." I admitted.

"Eric told me there is a little girl now too. Is that right?" She asked wide eyed.

"Yeah. Renesmee. She's two but looks like she's six." I told her. She frowned and I knew she wanted to ask about how her baby would grow. "Would you like me to explain how it works?" I asked carefully.

She thought on it for a bit. "I don't know. It's not going to matter to me."

My heart clenched when she said that. "I realize that, but maybe you'll feel a little better if you know that your baby will grow up and have a relatively normal life?" I asked tentatively.

"I suppose so." She shrugged.

"Does Eric know much about how your baby will be?" I asked, wondering how much Eric himself had known about what he was condemning her to.

She shook her head. "He said he didn't think he could give me a child. We weren't careful."

I laughed. "Yeah, my brother didn't think he needed to be careful either." She laughed very quietly but it almost sounded sad. I guess, to her, it was. "But my new sister in law was already changed by the time she found out she was expecting, so it's a bit different I suppose."

She began to cough then. Great wracking coughs that shook her shoulders and made her chest rattle. I patted her back carefully, not wanting to bruise her paper thin skin, and waited until the fit had subsided. "Sorry." She whispered when she lowered her back onto the pillows.

"God, don't apologise. What can I do for you? What will make you feel better?" I asked her as she shuffled down the bed again.

"I'm tired. But I don't want to be alone. Will you stay with me, talk to me about Renesmee until I fall asleep?" She asked sheepishly.

I took her hand and moved up the bed so that I could stroke her hair while she rested. "Of course I can do that. You close your eyes, I won't leave." I promised. "Renesmee is amazing. She had teeth when she was born. Two little rows of pointy perfect teeth. Scared the hell out of me when I first saw them." I chuckled. "Oh, and she has a gift too. I was surprised when I saw it for the first time, but I shouldn't have been. My brother, her dad, he's gifted too. He can read minds. It's creepy until you get used to him. He works real hard not to pry, but sometimes he can't help it. Anyway, Bella has a gift too, she's a shield. I don't know if you know what that means and I guess it doesn't really matter too much now, but between them they produced Nessa who has a strange gift all of her own."

May began to breathe a little deeper and I carefully counted the number of breaths she took over the course of a minute. The number hadn't changed since I noted it earlier so I sighed softly in relief that she was no worse.

I stroked her hair and continued to tell her about Nessa.

**EMPOV**

I found the medical supplies factory without too much hassle. It was tucked in between a plumbing supplies place and a wholesale bakery in the industrial sector of Brewer.

In the reception area I found a guy named Stan who said he had my order packed and ready to go. He asked me to follow him out onto the factory floor and then he helped me to stow it all in the trunk of the Mercedes.

I was about to shake his hand and say thank you when he mentioned he had the blood I was wanting too. That threw me. Carlisle hadn't mentioned I'd be picking up pouches of blood.

I signed for them, a half dozen clear plastic bags of human blood in a Styrofoam cooler just like the one at the house.

I drove back to the house, smelling that sweet, sweet scent the whole way. I wanted so badly to just pull over somewhere and slit one of the pouches open and drink my fill. But I knew Rosie would be pissed and the baby needed the blood more than I did.

I made it back there without giving in, even though the further I drove the more the smell taunted me.

May was asleep and Rosie was in the backyard hosing out the cooler. The cup was on its side, clean of the stench now, as she aimed the nozzle at it. "Hey babe." She called over her shoulder as I opened the back sliding door.

"Hey." I replied, going to her and putting an arm around her waist. "How is she?"

"Asleep. I filled out Carlisle's question sheet but I don't know what any of the answers mean yet. How did you go?" She asked as she turned the nozzle on the hose off.

I helped her wind it up and put it back against the back of the house where it belonged. "I went okay. I got everything Carlisle ordered and I got her some blood too. But its human babe. We're going to have to be real careful with it." I told her.

She grimaced. "Fuck." She whispered. "How are we going to be able to give it to her without…god Em, I've not been near human blood for so long."

I put my arm back over her shoulder and squeezed. "I know babe. Me either. We'll be alright. We can do this. She needs us to be able to do this. It's for the baby. I'll talk to Ed and he can find us somewhere to hunt round here."

Rosie nodded and we went into the house.

We opened the boxes of medical gear and laid them out on the kitchen table. We marked them off the list that Carlisle had given me and we read the information that came with each piece so we'd know how to use it when the time came. There were swabs and gauze bandages and packets of alcohol wipes and latex gloves. Those were all pretty much self explanatory. But the boxes of tubing and syringes frightened the hell out of me.

There were bags of plasma and some vials of liquid drugs too. There was a big box of aspirin and half a dozen sachets of antibiotic powder. After reading the instructions we were supposed to mix the powder with the little bottles of sterile water and make a liquid medicine for May. That wasn't as scary as I'd imagined. I just hoped we got the doses right.

I called Carlisle when we had everything assembled and he talked us through how to set up a drip line. Neither of us wanted to be the one to do it so we flipped a coin. I fucking lost. Big surprise. Unluckiest vampire in the history of vampires I am.

When it got dark we took it all upstairs and spread it out on the floor in the bedroom. We hoped that by doing the horrible bit now she'd be able to sleep for the rest of the night peacefully.

I set the IV pole up at the foot of the bed and set out all the things I was going to need on a clean towel at the edge of the mattress.

When May woke up we got set up. She looked around the room with wide, frightened eyes.

"Don't worry, please." I told her. "We only want to help you feel better."

Rosie helped her into the bathroom and she had another shower and did what she had to do. When she was in another clean nightgown and back in the bed I went into the bathroom and scrubbed my hands and forearms like Carlisle had told me. When I was as clean as I could possibly be I slid on some gloves and Rosie dialled the Doc.

Once he was on speaker he walked me through inserting the IV into May's arm. Rosie had to leave the room. The smell of the pouches of blood coupled with the tiny pinprick I'd have to make to insert the IV was going to be too much for her all at once. After a few hours we'd both settle down, but at first it was going to be hard to be near May when she had a wound.

It wasn't difficult to put the line in, but it was gross. I shuddered when the needle tip slid under her skin. I didn't take a breath until the IV was dripping at the right rate into the tubing and May was lying back against the pillows again.

Rosie hovered around watching every move I made after the line was working as it should. She made heaps of notes for Carlisle. He walked me through adding the antibiotics to the fluid bag and how to regulate the flow rate on that. We gave her another drink of water and a couple of aspirin to help her with the aches and pains she was suffering with the fever.

Then it was time to tackle the blood issue.

Carlisle suggested we decant it into a drink bottle or water bottle. Something with a sipper spout so the smell wouldn't be as potent for us or for May. She was reluctant to try the blood but we both knew, from watching Bella, that the baby needed it and that it would override May's repulsion in the end. The baby craved it and in turn so would she once she'd tasted it.

I found a sports drink bottle in the kitchen and after I'd rinsed it out and filled it a few times with boiling water I braved the pouch of blood in the cooler. I took one pouch out and put the rest into the refrigerator. Even through the plastic of the pouch it smelled fucking fantastic to me. I snipped the corner off the pouch and began to squeeze its contents into the drink bottle. I could feel my bloodlust rising and knew the instant May finished her meal I'd have to run and hunt. I had no idea where a suitable area for hunting would be locally, but knew that Edward would have found out for us.

I handed Rosie the drink bottle and with a grimace I told her that I'd need to stay downstairs while May consumed it. Rosie didn't look much happier than I was when she smelled the liquid for herself. But she took it upstairs and did what she needed to do anyway.

**RPOV**

I didn't want to rush her but I couldn't sit for long in a room with human blood in it.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of it but sipped all the same. She groaned once and then she sucked hard. She had the bottle empty in under a minute. It was also the first time she had any real colour to her skin. I poured her a glass of water and set it on the beside cabinet. She drank it down too and then smiled.

She handed me the drink bottle and I ran into the bathroom to rinse it out. I watched with longing as the crimson river flowed down the sink hole and away from me. I fought the urge to run my tongue around the edge of the basin and mop up the feint trace I could still smell there.

Instead I used the face cloth and a bottle of bleach to wash away the last vestiges of the blood. When I could no longer smell it I went back into the bedroom.

May was hunkered down under the covers again, still shivering with the fever and had a light sheen of sweat on her lip and forehead. I didn't want to leave her but needed to hunt. Her own scent was masked in illness and something in my brain was telling me not to crave her as I would any other human. Perhaps because of the baby she carried, perhaps because I knew she was ill but more than likely because I knew that she was going to die very soon and I didn't want her last hours to be those of a terrified human victim.

"Do you think you'll be okay up here on your own for a little while?" I asked.

"You need to hunt, I understand." She said quietly.

"Only animals May, I swear to you, we only hunt animals. That's why that blood freaks us out so bad. It's been so long, decades really, since either of us was anywhere near human blood." I assured her.

She stared at me for a few minutes and then she smiled weakly. "I'll be okay for a bit. I'm going to sleep for a while."

I went to the side of the bed and mopped the sweat from her brow. "That drip and the antibiotics should start working real soon. I'm sorry you feel so awful, I wish you could enjoy the pregnancy to its end May." I told her truthfully. Being with child should be an amazing experience for any woman, not this gut wrenching mess we had here. "We'll be as quick as we can." I told her and went downstairs to join Em.

He was in the backyard on the phone with Edward.

"Fair enough. Yeah, I'll find it, thanks." He snapped the cell phone shut and turned to me. "Eddie says there's a bit of forest about ten minutes run due north. He says there are Canadian Lynx and Cougars. I gotta hunt, babe." He cringed.

I smiled and put my hand in his. "Then let's run big boy." I told him.

An hour later we returned sated and feeling much better about the pouches of blood that sat in the refrigerator. Emmett had taken down a huge Black Bear and I'd had my fill on a caribou but the Lynx and Cougar had eluded us. No matter, we'd be going out again at some point.

May was awake and coughing violently when we got back to the little house. I was going to just run in through the backdoor and go to her when Emmett reached out for my arm and stopped me. "Stop Rosie. Smell that."

I lifted my chin and closed my eyes. I sniffed a little but I could already smell what it was he wanted me to find. "Shit, that can't be good." I muttered. "You get Carlisle on the phone I'll go and see."

We could both smell blood but it wasn't the good kind. Not as foul as what had been in that cooler, but bad all the same. And this time we knew there was nothing in the bedroom that could make that smell other than May herself. She was bleeding and judging by the strength of the smell she was bleeding a lot.

I heard Emmett greet Carlisle as I went in through the bedroom door.

May was half sitting up in the bed. She was coughing hard and it looked like it hurt but there was no blood around her mouth. My gut clenched when I realised where it must be coming from. "May, honey, take a drink." I held a glass to her lips and in between coughs she tried to sip at it. Eventually the coughing slowed and then stopped. I put my hand to her cheek and felt the fever, much hotter than it had been earlier. "Emmett's on the phone with Carlisle, he'll know what to do." I told her.

I could smell the blood, it was trapped under her nightgown and under the blankets but I could smell it all the same. I wondered if she knew for herself yet. I didn't want to have to clean it up and I didn't want to frighten her but I couldn't let her lie in it either. Quite apart from the fact that if she was bleeding vaginally it would be a bad sign for the baby's health.

Em came running up the stairs and he put the phone on the floor in the doorway again. "You're on speaker dad, go." He said.

"Rosie, what can you tell me?" Carlisle asked.

I smiled weakly at May as she stared up at me with wide scared eyes. "She's heaps hotter dad. Sweating much more and coughing too. I think she's bleeding but haven't checked." I cringed when May began to cry quietly. I rubbed the tear off her cheek with my thumb. "Shh, it's alright sweetheart, we're here to help, shhh." I told her gently.

"You can't help me." She whimpered.

I didn't doubt the validity of her statement but I didn't want her to know that. I wanted her to feel better, despite what I knew was going to happen to her very soon. "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry about all this. Carlisle, tell me what I need to do." I begged.

"You need to tell me about the bleeding Rosie. I'm sorry May, but we need to find out why you are bleeding." Carlisle said firmly.

I felt May cringe and I felt the same way. "Sorry." I told her. She shrugged as though it was no big deal but I knew that it was. "Carlisle I'll take her for a shower and I'll call you back." He rang off and I turned back to May. "Would that be alright? You'd have to get naked for that anyway."

She smiled weakly and began to sit herself up. "I'm so sorry you have to do this." She mumbled as she slid her legs over the side of the bed for me.

I told her not to be silly, that's what I was there for, to help her. I put both my arms under hers and tried to help her stand. She was so weak she could hardly hold her weight.

We didn't get far. Blood coursed down her legs and pooled on the floor at her feet. She looked down and began screaming.

**EMPOV**

When May started screaming I dialled Carlisle back right away. There was never going to be a chance that things weren't horribly fucking wrong in that bedroom so I had to get him on the line right away.

When he answered I put my hand and the phone through the bedroom door, "Hear that?" I held the phone out in front of me. "Rosie, docs on speaker." I told her as I put the phone on the floor again.

I could smell the blood now, it was really strong and I could tell without looking that there was a lot. It didn't smell good though, not like tasty or anything. It smelled like menstrual blood did to us. Old, dead. Not at all appealing. We'd had decades to get used to women who were experiencing their monthly cycle. I'd never had a problem with it and I didn't know any vampire who had. So this wouldn't be a problem for Rosie, just for May. Poor kid. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was going through this shit with two strangers in the first place, now it has to go all fucking wrong and get real degrading for her too. Sometimes life just wasn't fucking fair.

"She's bleeding a lot dad." Rosie told the doc.

"Okay, you need to tell me what colour it is. Is it bright red or dark red?" He asked.

"It's dark." She said as they shuffled towards the bathroom again.

"Is it clear or are there clots in it?" He asked next and I cringed.

Jesus fucking Christ on a cross, why couldn't it just be easy? Why is it never fucking easy?

"Um, it looks sort of watery. Some clear stuff with blood mixed in it." Rosie shuffled on the floor a bit more and then apologised to a whimpering May. "Sorry darling, I have to tell him or he can't help. Carlisle I'm gonna take her in the shower now, Em can you talk to him?" She called to me.

"Yeah, on it." I told her and reached down to take the phone off the floor again. "You got me now doc."

"It doesn't sound good Em. I hoped it was just the show, do you know what that is?" He asked. When I said I didn't he told me it was when the woman was ready to give birth, when her cervix started dilating she sometimes lost a little bit of bright red blood. But that wasn't what this was. "Do you have the sheet of results from Rosie's tests?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll go get them." I ran back down the stairs and laid the sheets out on the kitchen table. "Shoot doc."

I told him all the answers Rosie had written down and waited for his instructions.

I heard the taps turn off upstairs and then the two of them shuffling back into the bedroom. Rosie came downstairs and filled my bucket up again with hot water. She got new rags from the cupboard and took the bottle of bleach with her. The smell of the blood went away and was replaced with the smell of the bleach. I hated that smell but it was much better than smelling that blood.

"Okay. From the answers Rosie has given I think she's got blood poisoning." I cursed and he sighed. "It's called puerperal sepsis son and it's not good. From what you've told me about the contents of that cooler she may have caught something from that blood or it could just be infection. Do you know if she has any wounds?" He asked.

"Not that I know of. I can ask Rosie though."

"Please." He said he'd wait while I went and found out.

I ran up the stairs and met Rosie on the landing. She said she hadn't noticed any wounds on the girl's body, just that she had the fever and the shivers again now.

"No wounds doc." I told Carlisle.

"No matter now. I think, unfortunately, that things are going to get a lot worse for her son. If it is sepsis her organs will begin to dysfunction next and her body might try to spontaneously abort the baby." He said gravely.

"Oh for fucks sake." I muttered. "Okay, let's deal with one thing at a time. Is there anything we can do to stop the bleeding?"

"I don't think so, no. Just bed rest. If it was a human baby that's what I'd recommend. Bed rest and plenty of fluids. You can speed up the antibiotic IV and try to bring the fever down." He told me at what speed the drip should run from now on and I wrote his instructions on the top of Rosie's answer sheet. "But Em, I have to warn you, the only thing you can really do for her now is make her as comfortable as possible. No amount of drugs or intervention will help her now son."

"What about morphine or something?" I asked hopefully. Maybe if she was out of it for a bit her body would go easier on her.

"No son, I have no idea what effect morphine would have on the baby and it won't change anything for May now. I'm so sorry Emmett." Carlisle said.

"Yeah, I know. Okay, I'll go and change the speed of the drip. I'll call you later if there is any news. Bye dad." I hung up the phone and went back upstairs.

**RPOV**

I wheeled the IV stand back closer to the bed when Em had changed the speed of its dripping. I'd heard every word Carlisle had said on the phone and it made me sick to think her last days were going to be spent like this. Attached to a drip and feeling so awful. It just wasn't fucking fair!

She slept for four hours and then began coughing again. It was even more violent this time. She coughed up milky white stuff that had little streaks of blood in it and she lost a little more blood from down below which meant more cleaning for Em and me taking her for yet another shower. I didn't mind, not really. It made her feel better to be clean and it gave me something to focus on other than the inevitable.

For two more days all we did was clean her up and dose her up. Nothing worked. She still shivered and she still coughed. She slept on and off and had nightmares about Eric not returning. It was gutting to have to sit by her and reassure her that he was fine. She wanted to talk to him, wanted us to get him on the phone, but of course we couldn't. Each time she asked we put her off with excuses. She believed us and I felt so guilty for deceiving her.

Emmett kept an eye on the IV and I kept her clean. It was all we could do. We tried hard to keep her calm and to make her comfortable but as the end drew nearer her condition worsened and we knew we would soon have to face the reality of having to deliver the baby.

Her blood pressure dropped dramatically on the third day. Carlisle said it was because she was getting dehydrated. Emmett had to start another IV line that day, in her other arm. She was so thin now I thought the needle might come out the other side of her arm as he slid it home. He didn't want to have to do it again and he nearly cried when he sunk the needle into her paper thin skin a second time, but May was brave and talked to him all through it, reassuring him that it was what was best for the baby.

She was so fucking strong. Like Bella had been. Everything was about and for the baby. May let us poke and prod her, even letting us feed her blood for Christs sake, and she took it all willingly because it was what was best for her baby. It was both the most amazing thing and the most heart breaking thing I'd ever heard and had to watch.

That night when she began coughing in her sleep a pale pink froth leaked out of her mouth. I panicked but Em told me he'd been expecting it, that Carlisle had told him what the steps were going to be as she approached complete organ failure. The froth was from her lungs, they were filling with fluid because of the massive infection inside her. There was nothing we could do that we weren't already, so once again we simply cleaned her up and held her hand while she slept.

I was worried about what the infection was doing to the baby but Carlisle was fairly sure that the thick, steel-like membrane was protecting it and that she was as sick as she was because the baby was sapping her resources for itself. It was a double edged sword, sick mother equalled healthy baby, but it just wasn't fucking fair.

Her liver went next. The bleach smell in the room had nothing to do with the mopping and the bucket of hot water we'd used to clean up the floor when she'd leant over the bed to throw up during the night. The smell of ammonia came from May herself. I talked to Carlisle about it and was horrified to learn that her liver couldn't process toxins in her body anymore so it was shutting down. Her skin leeched an ammonia smell. She was pale and drawn and slept in fits and bursts.

She was so confused now too. It was almost a god send really. She slipped in and out of reality as she slept and woke disoriented. Sometimes she wondered who she was and at other times she wondered where she was. I was grateful that when her end came she might, mercifully, be unaware of most of it.

As the sun crept through the open windows the following morning we called Carlisle and asked for some last minute words of advice. It was obvious the time was almost upon us and we were going to be forced into action at any moment.

His only advice was to say what we needed to say to May without delay. Her continued deterioration was going to end in coma very soon and if there was anything we wanted her to know we should tell her now.

Em said he wanted to go first, that he would like some privacy, so I kissed his cheek, then May's, and left them to it.

I ran out through the back door and down the little concrete steps. I didn't stop running until I came to the little forest Edward had told us about that first day. I didn't need to hunt so I found a place to sit so I could think about all the things I wanted to say. I made a mental list and tried to be patient until it was my turn to say it.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter, and if you have not please review and tell me why. Thank you all the same. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter contains medical information and situations that some may find offensive or disturbing. It is done with the utmost respect to the girl suffering it all and I hope I have done her story justice. **

Chapter 3 – Rosie's Angel

3.

**EMPOV**

I waited until Rosie was far enough away from the house before I started talking to May. I didn't have anything to hide from my wife but I wanted to be able to say what I needed to say without her worrying over hearing it.

I moved up the bed and sat right beside her. She was breathing heavily, like it was an effort just to keep her heart beating. Maybe, by now, it was. She was still in there though, her eyes were still following me as I moved. I took her hand in mine and felt the hot sting of fever in her fingers.

"I wish this could be different." I told her honestly.

She didn't reply, she hadn't spoken to either of us for hours now. Now and then she'd whimper or gurgle, but nothing that made too much sense. She coughed lightly, too tired to give in to the need to really bark. Her chest rattled with every breath and her body shook as the fever raged on unabated.

"I've got so much in my head right now, so much I want to tell you." I told her as I wiped her face with the cool washcloth again. "Your Eric was a good guy. It was obvious he loved you and the baby. Talked about you all the time, couldn't shut him up really." I laughed lightly as much at the lie as at the irony. He'd never said a fucking word, just left her here and gone west. "I've never met a braver human than you May. I bet your kid is gonna be a real live wire if she's anything like you."

I wanted to reassure her that we'd take good care of her, that we'd love her always, but didn't want to give the game away. If she worked out that Eric wasn't going to raise this kid she'd panic, god only knew what that would do to her system.

So I was real careful how I worded things. I checked the IV flow and mopped up her sweat again. "I want to make a promise to you May. I want you to know I'll do everything I can for your baby. I'll always be there for her, no matter what. I'll come running whenever she calls. I'll make sure she has everything she needs. Hell, I'll spoil her rotten." I chuckled.

May moaned and shifted her hips a little on the bed. For the millionth time I wished Ed was here, he'd be able to read the baby and tell us what was going on with it.

"I'm gonna try and talk Eric into bringing her home with us, to Forks, that's in Washington. There are heaps of us there so they won't be alone. She can learn about herself there, with our Renesmee. She'd have a good life there. I promise."

Of course she didn't say anything. She whimpered a bit as she tried to move but she didn't say anything. She brought a hand up and over her belly and began rubbing it idly. "Let me." I told her, shifting her hand back to her side.

She'd been sore for days and at the beginning she'd told us that it hurt her when the baby kicked. She said it felt like being punched from the inside. Rosie told me she was bruised all over, that her skin was purple under the nightgown. She said that every move the baby made hurt May badly but she never complained, never cursed and never gave in.

I rubbed the heel of my hand across the lump where she'd been rubbing. I tried to be real careful, not push too hard. She sighed, I hoped in contentment, so I kept rubbing while I talked to her.

"She'll like Forks. It rains all the time which sucks, but at least we can go out a lot." I told her. I changed the way I rubbed her tummy so the skin didn't get irritated. She sighed again so I kept going. She didn't close her eyes as I spoke this time, she watched me. "Eddie is building a school close by. He wants us all to teach there. My sister is going to teach photography and my other sister will teach fashion and design. She's such a girl." I chuckled. "I'm going to teach construction. I only just finished my degree so it will be new for me, but I like kids and I think I could be good at it. Eddie is building a wood shop and a metal shop too."

She started coughing then so I helped her to sit up and I patted her back carefully to loosen the mucus in her lungs like Carlisle had told me to do. I helped her to sip some water and then laid her back on the pillows. "You're doing real well May." I told her. I sat back on the edge of the bed and kept talking. I'd keep going until Rosie came back, then I'd run. "I think you'd like our mom. Esme is her name. She was turned real young but always wanted to be a mom. Did you always want kids?" I asked. I waited for a reply but of course none came. "I bet you did. Girls always think about that stuff huh? Like weddings and first dates and stuff. I never used to think about it, but when I was changed and couldn't have kids, well, then I started thinking about it. But it never bothered me like it does my Rosie."

I was treading dangerously close to murky information waters so I changed tack a little. "We'll make Eric and your little one real comfortable out there, if he'll come. I'll build them a little cottage of their own. We did that for Eddie and Bella, you know?" I asked, as if she were holding up her end of the conversation. "Yeah, when they got married and had the munchkin we renovated a little cottage at the edge of our property for them. They live there mostly, but sometimes they stay at the big house with us. The big house, that's what we call the Cullen house. It's huge. Three floors. Pretty impressive. Esme likes big places, gives everyone a space of their own. Bella's even got a darkroom there. Eddie plays the piano and he's got a beaut in the living room at the big house. Your little one can learn from him too if she wants. Our Nessa does, she could play before she could walk!" I scoffed. I knew I was bragging but I wanted her to know, even if I had to lie about Eric being there too, that her baby would have a good life with us. A privileged life too. With nice things and love and affection and security.

I was toying with the idea of telling her about the boat and the pool house when I heard Rosie coming through the trees at the back of the house. My time was up.

"Rosie's coming now May. She's gonna want to talk to you too. I'm going to love your little girl May. I want you to know that. It might not make sense to you right now, but I want you to know that I'll love her, I'll keep her safe for you and I'll teach her real good. She'll never be alone May."

Her eyes bored into mine and I wondered if I'd gone too far. She looked frightened.

I patted her hand one more time then left the room. I met Rosie on the landing. She looked like someone who was heading towards the noose. I knew how she felt.

She squeezed my hand but didn't say anything. I was good with that. If I tried to say anything to her I'd probably blub like a pussy anyway. This way I could just slip out the back door and go for a run without her knowing I was a big girl.

**RPOV**

It wasn't often that Emmett looked like he was about to drop his bundle. If he started crying I was done for. I had no resolve when it came to that shit. If he lost it I'd follow. It was like a gag reflex. I was a sympathetic crier. I hid it well with sniffles and scowls, but Em knew that if he started blubbing I'd go right along with him. I think that's why he high-tailed it out of the house so quickly after I arrived back.

I'd given him a solid hour with May and I hoped it had been enough for him to say what he needed to say to her.

When he was gone for a few minutes I went into the bedroom. She looked awful. Gaunt I think the word is. Her cheeks were hollow now and her eyes looked scared and dull.

The drip was still running but I knew it wasn't doing any good. She was so unresponsive now I wondered if she knew who she was, let alone who we were. I had hoped, over the past few days, that she'd be comatose when the baby was born just so she would be spared the emotional and physical pain of it. But she was holding on.

I sat on the edge of the bed and began where Em had left off. I wiped her forehead with the damp washcloth and straightened her blankets. I adjusted the thin strip of bandage across the back of her hand so the tubing wouldn't pinch from the IV and it wouldn't pull at her skin.

She hadn't spoken for a few hours, the effort was probably just too much for her now. I didn't know how to begin saying what I needed to say so I was quiet for a little while too.

I took her frail hand and stroked her thumb with mine. "This won't make any sense to you right now but I need to make you a promise." I told her cryptically. "I promise, no matter what, that I will love and protect your little girl May. Eric will need some help raising her and he hasn't mentioned any family of his own, so I want to ask him to bring your little one out west with us. We have a good life there, they'll be safe and she'll have opportunities there. She can learn about what she is from our Nessa and everyone will adore her like they adore our niece. My sister Alice, she's the girly girl of our group, she's going to love your little one, if Eric will bring her of course. She dressed Nessa every day. A new outfit every day since she was born, can you believe that? And Emmett built her a little nursery high up on the third floor beside Edward's suite, it's gorgeous. Eric and the baby can stay there, they'd be real comfortable, I promise." I was rambling and I knew it, but couldn't stop.

It was easier to tell her inane lies about Eric being with the baby than it was to tell her the truth. I wanted to tell her how fucking sorry I was that she had to die, I wanted to tell her how guilty I was feeling for being excited about the baby. I wanted to confess that Eric was gone and promise the girl that I'd never, ever leave her baby alone, not for a single day of its life would it feel abandoned or an orphan. I wanted her to know that we'd love it as if she was of our own flesh and blood. But I couldn't. So I did my best to make her comfortable as we awaited the end.

I mopped up the sweat on her forehead again and helped her to sit up a little so she could sip the cool water from her cup. A loud cracking sound echoed around the silent room. May cried out a little and slumped back onto the pillows.

I looked over her but saw no obvious signs of anything being wrong, but the sound had been so loud. I jumped from the bed and ran to the window.

"Em!" I shouted, hoping he wasn't too far away.

I went back to the side of the bed and saw that May had passed out. She was completely floppy, like a rag doll, and slumped sideways as though she didn't have time to right herself before losing consciousness.

"Em!" I shouted again in panic.

Another loud crack rang around the room, this time I'd been close enough to hear where it had come from. Her bones were breaking as the baby moved inside her!

I flew down the stairs and snatched the cell phone off the kitchen counter. I dialled as I ran back up the stairs.

"Dad I think her pelvis just cracked, maybe a rib." I shouted into it when Carlisle answered.

"Oh god, I was hoping that wouldn't happen. Rosie, honey, it's time to deliver that baby." He told me quietly.

"Jesus, I don't know if I can. Carlisle I can't bite her, I don't want to be the one to bite her." I was screaming all this into the phone in a panic. Emmett flew into the room and took the phone from me.

"Talk to me doc." He said as he went into the bedroom. "She looks like she's unconscious. Yeah, right...and what then?" He was asking. "Okay, hang on." He put the phone on the mattress and came towards me. "Rosie, babe, it has to be now love, Carlisle says we have to do it now, just in case the baby is sick or it tries to bite its way out of her." He was holding my shoulders now but I was crying and looking from him to May and back again. "Rosie, look at me babe, Rosie!" He shouted and I startled enough to blink hard and look at him more fully.

"What?" I barked.

"I'll do it, you don't have to, but you have to be here, you have to talk me through it, you have to help me after...after I've bitten through, alright?" He asked.

All I could do was nod. I didn't want this, I didn't want to help, shit I didn't even want to be in the same state as what was about to go down. But I nodded all the same. I couldn't let that baby die.

**EMPOV**

I went to the box of supplies on the floor in the bathroom and took out the syringe and the little clear bottle that Carlisle had ordered for me. It was morphine and I'd made him promise, right at the start, that even though it wouldn't help her heal we'd use as much as was safe during the birth to make sure she felt no pain.

I took the needle and the bottle back into the bedroom and put it on the mattress beside May. Carlisle was still on the line so I told him to tell me what to do first.

"Fill the syringe son, as much as it will take, the dose won't matter now." He told me and I hurried to do as he instructed.

I pulled the plunger all the way back, sucking as much morphine into the chamber as I could. I felt some sense of urgency, as though I should hurry, but I didn't know why. I didn't want to ask either, if Rosie was shouting for help then something had happened. Rosie didn't shout for nothing.

"Okay, done that doc." I told Carlisle. I moved to the head of the bed and waited for him to tell me how to give the medicine to her.

"Just inject it straight into the catheter in her hand Em. Do it now and give it a minute to let it work, you can get everything else organised while it does what it's supposed to."

I slid the tip of the needle into the little tube taped to the back of May's hand and pushed the plunger all the way in.

I threw the needle into the box, no need to worry about getting pricked, and told Carlisle I was done.

"Good. Rosie you need to be ready to receive the baby once Emmett gets her out. Not now! Go away!" Carlisle shouted and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What the hell, doc?" I asked.

"Sorry about that, I'm at the hospital, interns keep knocking on my door." He told me and I chuckled. "Right, Rosie you get ready to grab the baby when Em gets her out. Get a clean towel or a blanket. Em you need to be prepared with the scalpel son. Tell me when you're both ready to begin."

I looked at Rosie who looked about ready to puke. Her eyes were huge as she looked from me to May and back again. "Rosie? You ready babe?" I asked her.

She bent and took a clean towel off the chair by the bed and nodded weakly.

I had the scalpel in my hand and was about to tell the doc to go ahead when Rosie stopped me.

"Wait." She cried. I waited. She put the towel on the bed and leaned over May. She put her lips to the girl's ear and whispered.

"We'll love her like our own May, I promise you. She'll know you, through us, I swear. Goodbye beautiful girl." She whispered in a cracked voice.

She moved away again and took up the towel. She nodded at me but I couldn't move. I just stared at my wife for a long minute. She was changing before my very eyes. She nodded at me again and I took a deep breath.

"Okay doc." I said real quietly.

I heard Carlisle take a deep breath and then I was cutting.

It sounded so gross as it slid through her skin. She splayed open so easily. It was like a hot knife through butter. Blood didn't spray out like I thought it would. It's what would've happened in the movies. Instead it just sort of bubbled up at the edges of the cut and ran down her belly towards her knickers.

She didn't move and she made no sound. The only sound in the room was her heartbeat. It thumped so loudly now her blood had been spilled. I didn't have time to decide if I wanted it or not, I just listened to Carlisle as he told me what to do.

Rose was holding her breath, I could see her lips pursed shut tight. I couldn't help her now if her thirst ignited so I ignored her and tried to concentrate on what I was about to have to do.

"Bite as low down as you can Em. Across her pubic bone if you can. You might need to pull the two flaps of skin and muscle aside..." He said but I stopped him.

"Yeah doc, too much information. How about I just bite the kid out?" I shouted.

I didn't hear his reply because I just took another deep breath and bent my head over her bulging belly. I ran my fingers over the line I was going to bite and then I shut my eyes. I didn't want to do this but I wanted this kid like I'd never wanted anything in my existence. I wanted it for me and for Rosie and for May. I closed my eyes and pulled my teeth away from my lips and then I bit down hard.

**RPOV**

It sounded like metal being shredded apart. Emmett bit again and again. I was useless to him. He said he needed me to talk him through it but I was struck dumb.

The sight of it was bad enough, but the sound, I'll never forget it.

May's heart was slowing. Its sound was erratic now. I willed her away, wanting her to go as quickly and as peacefully as she could. I didn't want her to have to live through the horrible sounds of her baby being bitten from within her belly.

Another sound then, like the mewling of a kitten.

Emmett stood away from May's body and wiped his mouth on the hem of his shirt. He was covered in blood.

"I'm through doc." He told Carlisle.

"Reach in and pull the baby out. Snap the cord with your nails, it'll heal on its own in minutes."

Emmett looked to me. "You ready babe?" He asked.

All I could do was nod. There was nothing more to do or say. This was it.

He put his hands on either side of the line he'd bit through and with his fingers he pushed the two halves apart. The same strange noise echoed around the room. As though a tiny kitten was being groomed by its mother. I heard a sloshing sound and then a high pitched wail as Emmett brought his hands back up in front of him.

In them was the bloodied body of a baby. It writhed and cried as he held it out to me. I stretched my hands across May's body and let him put it in the towel. I slid the two sides of the towel together and held the baby tightly.

"Rub the baby Rosie, get its blood moving. Let me know what you see." Carlisle said.

I rubbed. The baby kept wailing, it was so loud in the little bedroom. It kicked and wriggled as I rubbed it all over with the soft towel. When I thought I'd rubbed enough I put the bundle in the crook of my arm and ventured a peek inside it.

It had bright pink skin and brown eyes and was looking at me as though I owed it money. The most serious little face I'd ever seen stared back up at me. A hand reached out from the towel and I put my finger into it. It was warm. Really warm. Its little heart beat fluttered like the wings of a bird.

"What do you see Rosie, is the baby alright?" Carlisle was asking me.

"It's warm. Should it be warm?" I asked a little panicked.

"Yes. Renesmee was warm. Can you hear its heartbeat?" He asked.

"Yes." I listened for half a minute and counted the beats. I doubled it and told Carlisle it was beating at 160 beats per minute. He said that was perfect.

"Does the baby appear ill at all?" He asked next.

I unwrapped the towel a little bit and looked over its head and neck. I ran a hand over its bulging belly and around its back a little bit. I looked over the hand that was already out of the wrapping and then I checked the other hand. "So far it's perfect. I'll put it down and check all over." I told him.

He was chuckling then and I wondered why. I looked to Em to see if he knew and saw him hovering over May. I choked back a sob. The baby had enthralled me so completely I'd forgotten about May!

"Em?" I asked.

"Should I try and change her Carlisle?" He yelled, startling both me and the baby.

"I don't know, I can't see what you can see Em. Try, you've nothing to lose." Carlisle told him.

He threw me a pleading look and I grimaced. I knew how it was done, of course, but having to do it was another thing. He didn't wait for my opinion.

I watched in fascinated horror as he bent over her body again and began to bite her. First at her wrists then at her elbows. Her throat, collarbones, waist thighs and then ankles. He swore loudly in between each bite, imploring May to fight, that he couldn't do it on his own, that he needed her to want to live.

I could still hear her heartbeat but it was feint now, barely above a whisper.

I wrapped the baby up tightly in the towel and set it in the middle of the bed so it wouldn't roll off. Then I crawled across the mattress towards May. I took her hand into mine and started begging her like Emmett was. He forced more and more venom into her system with each bite. In a few minutes she was covered in silvery double crescent shapes but her heart still sputtered and gurgled unevenly.

"How long should it take?" Emmett yelled.

"Only a minute or two, you'll know in a minute or two, son. Be patient a little longer."

Her hand was cooling in mine. I didn't know if that was because she was beginning her change or dying.

"Come on May, you gotta fight with me girl. Your baby's here and it's gonna need its mother, come on, you made it this far. Rosie, tell her." He growled.

"He's right May, you have to fight. It's not so bad, being like us, come on, come back to us." I begged with every ounce of emotion I had in me. I wanted the baby but I'd much rather it have its mother. "Come on, please, fight please." I begged.

Emmett bent his lips to her again and again. Forcing more and more venom inside her. Her skin tore easily under his teeth as he made more and more incisions. His tongue darted out and across each one, sealing it shut to keep the venom in her system.

I rubbed her all over, trying to force his venom to move through her veins and reach her heart. It was still beating, I could tell which was hers and which was the baby's heartbeat. Hers seemed shallow, as though it echoed inside a hollow body. Maybe it was.

"What do you see?" Carlisle asked.

"Nothing, I see nothing. She's cooling down but nothing's different, god, what do I do?" Emmett thundered, startling the baby and making it cry again.

I kept rubbing May's leg with one hand and reached over to pat the baby on its tummy with the other. It quieted instantly. Incredible I thought as I turned my attention back to its mother. "Come on May, the baby needs you, let the venom take you, please."

I let the baby go and rubbed harder. I was bruising her leg as I tried to force the venom upwards but I didn't care. If it worked she'd heal anyway as she moved through her change.

"Can you still smell the morphine in her veins?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, its feint though, I smell more venom than morphine." Emmett told him.

"Good. Her heart, what is her heart doing?" He asked.

Emmett seemed calmer for a second as he laid his head on her chest and listened. "It's slowing. Is it supposed to be? Does that mean its working, her heart has to stop before she's changed, right doc?" He asked hopefully.

I didn't need to wait for the answer. I'd been there when Esme was changed and Emmett too. I knew how it worked. Her heart was supposed to race if it was working. Her heart had to beat _faster_ not slower, it had to use up all the human blood it could and speed towards its last beat. May was dying.

"No son, if it was working it would be flying by now." Carlisle took a deep breath and sighed as he let it out. "I'm so sorry Em, she's too far gone to be changed."

**EMPOV**

I snapped the cell phone shut, effectively hanging up on my father. I couldn't listen to his sorry's anymore.

I'd failed. Failed her and the baby. I was so sure I could do it. So convinced that if I was careful and treated her right she'd pull through, be changed and have a chance to raise the baby herself. It would cripple Rosie if it worked, she wanted this baby like nothing else, but I had to try.

But I'd failed.

I put my head to her belly and cried. Like the big pussy I was I cried for May. Rosie stroked my hair with one hand and the baby with the other. It was gurgling away quite happily as long as Rosie touched it. As soon as she withdrew her hand it wailed.

May was so still, so quiet. Her breathing was so shallow it hardly made her chest expand at all as she drew her last breaths through her parted lips.

I sat back up, I didn't want to waste the last few minutes of the poor girl's life. I grabbed the washcloth and dried the sweat from her face. I arranged her nightgown so she was covered modestly and then I dragged the blankets back up over the gaping hole in her stomach.

To an onlooker she just looked like she was asleep. Peaceful.

Rosie put the baby on her chest then. She turned it so its little face could see its mother. I didn't even know if it _was_ a girl yet. Had May had more intuition than Bella had?

May's heart spluttered and I thought it might be the end but it lurched into rhythm again a few seconds later. But we both knew it was nearing the end, it couldn't keep going the way it was, with all her organs failing and the lack of oxygen to her brain in between moments when her heart didn't beat at all.

"Goodbye May. I'll keep my promises." I told her, patting her on the cheek one last time.

"And I'll keep mine May, I promise." Rosie said. She put her hand on May's forehead and then leant down to kiss her gently on the cheek.

She took my hand across May's body and we both watched and listened for the time when her heart would not restart of its own accord.

We didn't have to wait long.

It stopped again and we both held our breath waiting for it to kick back in. It never did. Instead she let out a soft sigh and then passed away. With her baby on her chest she left this life and went on to the next. I hoped it was better for her than this one had been.

Rosie was sobbing quietly. I squeezed her hand and let out the breath I'd been holding.

"Take the baby, love." I told her. She nodded and pulled the baby to her breast. "Go, I'll sort her out. I won't be long."

Rosie left the room and went downstairs with the baby. I followed her out onto the landing and got some clean sheets from the linen cupboard. I wrapped May's body in them and then put her back onto the bed. I closed the windows and the door behind me as I went out onto the landing again. I dialled Edward's cell. He answered on the first ring.

"Is it over?" He asked cautiously. I figured he either wasn't alone or he couldn't speak freely, otherwise he'd not have worded it that way.

"Yeah. What do I do now?" I asked.

"It's taken care of. They'll come in an hour. Are you alright?" He asked.

I must have been right, he wasn't alone. "I'm okay. The baby's fine by the look of it and so's Rosie. Thanks for everything Ed, I'll call back after they've been."

I hung up, not wanting to prolong the conversation. If he couldn't speak freely I didn't want to have to either. I'd tell him details when we got home.

I didn't know who 'they' were, but I told Rosie they were coming for May in an hour. She nodded but said nothing. She just sat on the sofa with the baby in her lap. She rocked front to back a little bit, like I'd seen human mothers do with their babies. She was so beautiful. I dropped a kiss on her hair and sat down beside her.

"I know I don't say it enough, babe, but I love you." I said in a whisper.

She smiled at me but returned her eyes to the baby. "I love you too, babe." She tugged at the edges of the towel and held a piece in each hand. "I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, you ready to find out?" She asked.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I reckon I am. Hang on a minute though, okay?" She stilled her hands and I leant over the baby a little. "I promised your mother I'd give you this when you were finally born." I bent over a bit more and kissed the baby's forehead. "I don't know if you can understand me yet, but Nessa could, so I'll go out on a limb and assume. Your mother and father loved you very much, so much they were willing to risk their lives for you. They did and they lost the bet little one. That leaves you with us. Hell of a hand to be dealt so young." I shook my head at the injustice of it all. "So I'm going to be your dad and Rosie is going to be your mom. I promise we'll try to do our best for you." I kissed it again on the cheek and then I sat back.

Rosie was beaming at me. She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "You're such a big sap Emmy, that was beautiful, I hope it can understand you because if it remembers that it will be the best first memory ever."

I smiled as wide as I could. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me. And it came from Rosie!

"Go on then, let's find out if we have a daughter or a son." I told her to shake us from the sombre moment.

"Here goes." She laughed.

She peeled the pieces of cloth away and we both took a quick peek. She giggled and I laughed.

"It's a girl." We both said together.

"Angel." Rosie whispered.

"Rosie's Angel." I whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Another tough chapter to write, I hope you can see past it and welcome little Angel into the fold. It's been a rough start for her, like Nessa's was. **

**One more chapter, to bring her home and introduce her into the Cullen clan. Then on to book four proper. **

**Please review if you've enjoyed it and if you haven't write and tell me where I went wrong. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Introduction to Comprimario

4.

**RPOV**

Two men in black suits arrived at Eric's house exactly one hour after May passed away. They introduced themselves and told us they'd been sent by Edward Cullen to collect the body of his dearly departed sister May.

I should've been shocked, but I wasn't. Edward was the consummate planner. Coupled with Alice' visions they had every outcome covered.

Emmett took the two men upstairs and they soon left with her body. They assured us they'd treat her with the utmost respect as they prepared her body for transportation to Washington. Again, I should've been surprised and once again I was not.

Alone in the house again we set about cleaning up the bedroom and bathroom. Emmett stayed with Angel while I gathered anything that had blood on it. I put everything on the landing. I'd have to take it to where we'd lit the first set of sheets on fire the day we'd arrived. We'd have to have another bonfire before we could leave.

Contemplating leaving felt wrong in so many ways. Taking Angel away from here would feel as though we were betraying both Eric and May, knowing it's where they planned to bring her up. Taking her home to Washington would also mean sharing her. We'd only just gotten her ourselves and for the very first time I understood how Bella had felt those first few turbulent days.

We'd all wanted a piece of Nessa, all wanted to spend time with her, never realizing that every time they gave her over to us they had to let her go themselves. It would've been agony. I'd only known about Angel for five days and already I felt possessive of her. Now that she was actually here, in the flesh, the idea of giving her over to someone else made panic rise in my throat.

If I had to share her with an imprinter only hours after her birth I knew I'd handle it just as Bella had. With stubborn belligerence and I knew I'd be much, much more awful to be around than Bella had been. I had a new found respect for Bella all of a sudden. I'd have to make sure to tell her that when we got home.

Home. It seemed so far away right now. I longed for Esme's comforting presence. She'd know what to do for the squealing infant downstairs. Carlisle would be able to reassure us that she was healthy. Edward would be able to tell us what she was thinking, I hoped. Alice might even be able to see her future. Jasper could calm her and Bella could nurse her properly and make her feel safe.

That I couldn't do any of that stung. I could learn it all and I was a quick study, but for all the decades I'd dreamt of becoming a mother I'd never once given any thought to the practicalities of it. Now that it was thrust upon me I was afraid.

Afraid to make a mistake. Afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep the promises I'd made to May. But most of all I was afraid to fail. It was easy to long for something you couldn't have. It was much harder to have it and have to deal with it.

I closed and locked the windows in the bedroom and the one in the bathroom.

I left everything as it had been when we'd arrived. Everything they'd owned, part from two small things, would stay right here until Angel was old enough to come back and sort through it for herself. I'd arrange for someone to clean it now and then, and to empty the contents of the refrigerator and freezer. Someone would cut the lawn and we'd pay the property taxes and make sure that it was all safe and secure until Angel decided what she wanted done with it. It was hers now.

I took with me only those two things. The silver framed photograph of Eric and May that had stood on the dresser top and a pink blanket May had, still in its packaging, that had sat taunting me for five days from the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

Everything else would lie in wait for Angel's return.

**EMPOV**

Angel lay in my arms, still wrapped in her soiled towel, while I waited for Rosie to join us downstairs. I wondered if the little girl had a gift like Nessa's. I took her little fist and put it to my cheek. All I felt was warm skin that smelled good. Not tasty good, just good. If she could read my mind she might be able to give me a sign. I thought about hunting bears and stared down at the tiny baby. Nothing. She didn't even blink. I hoped, for her sake as well as ours, that she was ordinary, like us.

I could hear Rosie moving about upstairs, going from room to room. We'd talked about what to do with the place on the journey here so I knew she was just cleaning it up and closing it up. We'd leave right away for Forks. There was no reason for us to stay here now.

We needed to be at home, surrounded by familiar things and people. Rosie needed Esme like never before and I needed Edward. He'd know what to say and what to do and how I should act. He was the only father I knew, the only guy I knew who had a hybrid child and only he'd know what the hell I was supposed to be doing with it.

Angel stared up at me with wide eyes. She looked just like Nessa had, except for her hair. Nessa's had been copper gold from the minute she was born but Angel's was heaps darker. Not as jet as mine but not light enough to be called mousy either. Somewhere in the middle was good. She was tiny too, much smaller than I remembered Nessa being. I hoped that wasn't going to be a problem. I hoped she was alright, that she was healthy and that what her mother had suffered hadn't been passed on to her in any way.

She seemed alright to me. Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes, two tiny little shell like ears and a cute button nose that wrinkled whenever she wailed. Which wasn't a lot now that the house was quieter. She seemed pretty content to just lie there and look at me.

I remembered that Nessa had been aware right from the off so I thought about talking to her, but it felt so strange. I had no connection with her yet, not like the one Edward and Bella had been able to form with Nessa before she'd been born. Edward told me he'd talked to her, sung to her and played for her even before they knew she could hear and understand it all. I hadn't had that chance with Angel but I was determined to make up for it now.

So I put aside my embarrassment and decided to talk to her.

"So, here we are little one. Just you and me. Your mother is upstairs cleaning and then we're going to head off to the airport. I guess you don't even know what that is huh?" I asked her. Like she was gonna answer! "We have to take a flight, on a plane that will take us way up in the sky. It's a lot of fun really, except for the dumb humans that will be there with us. But at the end of the trip we'll take you home, to our home. You'll get to meet everyone then. They're going to go nuts when they see you. Especially Esme. She's going to be your grandma. You'll love her, she's all soft and warm and sweet. You'll love Nessa too and she's going to want to smother you with kindness, trust me. She's your cousin, I guess. She's like you. Half human half vampire. I have a hunch you two are going to be real tight." I chuckled.

Rosie came downstairs then. She was lugging the old sheets and blankets in one hand and held a piece of pink material in the other. She nodded towards the backdoor and disappeared with the sheets.

I heard then smelt the fire as Rosie burned the foul blood stained sheets and towels. She wasn't gone long, there wasn't much to burn and it turned to ash pretty fast. She washed her hands in the laundry sink and then brought the pink bundle into the living room with her.

Inside it she'd wrapped the silver frame from the dresser. "I want to take it with us, so Angel can know what they looked like, do you think that's alright?" She asked.

"Course it's alright. It belongs to Angel now, she'd want to have it with her." I told her.

Angel strained in the towel and seemed to be trying to shift herself so she could see Rosie. I gathered the folds of the towel around her then turned her little body so she could see better.

I should've been shocked when the baby pulled both her arms clear of her makeshift blanket and thrust her tiny fists towards Rosie. She began to clench and unclench them just like Nessa did when she was little.

Rosie's smile was incredible.

"She wants you, babe." I told her.

"Do you really think so?" She asked me.

I figured I had nothing to lose by asking the baby, so I did. "Do you want to go to Rosie little one?" I asked. A high pitched wail came from inside that tiny little body as she pushed her arms out further towards her mother. "I guess that answers that." I chuckled.

Rosie put the frame on the coffee table and stepped towards the struggling baby. "Can I have her?" She asked.

"Course you can." I told her. I held the baby out for her to take and once she had I stood and put the picture frame inside the backpack that sat on the floor. "Is that a blanket?" I asked, nodding towards the piece of material she'd thrown into the armchair.

"Yeah. There might be clothes and things here somewhere too. I can't imagine May went all this time without shopping for her." Rosie crooned as the baby began to gurgle and snuffle. "But May had that set out for her, so I want to use it."

I took it from its packaging and shook it out. It was cute. Pink, of course, with that thick satin edging that all baby's blankets had. It had little white hearts sewn all over it too. A bit girly for my liking but I figured it's what women wanted for their babies. I guessed I was going to have to get used to frills and bows and shit with a baby girl in my family.

I laid the blanket out on the sofa and smoothed it out. Rosie brought Angel to it and as she took the wriggling body out of the bloody towel I took it and threw it aside. Rosie lowered the baby into the new blanket and wrapped her up tight and warm. "That's better isn't it?" She cooed.

I'd never heard Rosie coo in her life. Not even to Nessa really. But she was now. At our daughter. The thought hit me hard. I had a daughter, we had a daughter. I was someone's dad. Shit. What if I fucked it up?

"Hey." Rosie was beside me, her hand on my forearm. "It'll be alright. I promise."

Her eyes searched mine and I managed a weak smile. I don't know she knew, but she knew that I was frightened. Maybe she was too. "Course it will. If Eddie the pale white knight can do it we can." I chuckled, even though I didn't believe my own bullshit.

**RPOV**

He was full of shit and just as terrified as I was.

I held the baby tightly and tried to reassure Em that we'd be okay. I didn't have any idea if we would be, I just needed him to think I was sure.

We called Carlisle's cell and told him he could tell everyone that we were on our way home. He asked if he could announce the birth of the baby and since he didn't know she was a she we said he could. We both hoped Alice either hadn't seen her yet or if she had that she'd keep her mouth shut and wouldn't steal our thunder.

We left the house at full dark and made our way to the airport. Em had taken the Mercedes back to the rental company two days ago. We didn't need it and without a car seat we couldn't use the car with the baby anyway. We were in no hurry to get to the airport, we had open ended return tickets and flights ran every hour or so to Newark, so we ran. It was much slower than usual because I held the baby, but we got there in just under an hour.

We checked in with the information counter, collected our tickets and headed for the departure lounge. It was tiny but comfortable. Many people stopped by us to ogle the baby and to tell us how beautiful she was. It was blissful and I had never been more proud, or felt more human.

Nobody needed to know that she was totally naked under her blanket and that neither Em nor I had any idea what to do with her. That she hadn't fed had crossed my mind on the run and Em told me we'd sort that out when we got home.

It was a twelve hour trip, two plane changes, one in Newark and then again at Sea-Tac, but we made it to Port Angeles in good spirits.

We were trying to decide whether or not to run home or try and hire a car and car seat when our names were announced over the tannoy. We went to the information desk and collected a note and a set of keys.

"Read it out babe." Emmett asked as we walked out of the terminal towards the parking lot.

"It's from Alice. Here goes. Hello Cullen Family, We thought you might have trouble organising a ride home with a seat suitable for your little one, so we bought you a little something from all of us. Bring her home safely in it, all my love, Alice. There's a P.S too, of course." I laughed. Em laughed too and shifted Angel to his other arm as we came to the parking bay that housed our new car. A Guardian, how original. At least ours was black. Shiny silver wasn't my shtick. "P.S. I haven't told anyone anything, so it will all be a complete surprise to them. That she's a she, her name and middle name too. Hurry home."

We strapped Angel into the car seat, tucked her blanket in around her and set off for home. It was a pretty quiet trip. I think both of us were wondering what to say to them all and how they'd take the news. Of course they were going to be excited but I wondered if it was too soon for that. For me it felt like I should be in mourning for May, not celebrating bringing home a baby. May's body would arrive at some point and we'd have to bury her, until that happened I wanted everything kept low key.

Low key wasn't Alice' forte though.

I mentioned how I felt to Em and to my surprise found he felt the same, but for different reasons. His reluctance to celebrate stemmed from the war and Eric's fall. Coupled with the way I felt about May's passing we had the makings of a pretty sombre home coming.

"Something Alice said has got me thinking." He mused as he drove.

I turned in my seat to check on Angel, again. "Oh yeah, what's that?" I asked as I turned back around to face the front.

"Her middle name."

"Huh. Yeah. Alice must have seen it. What do you think?" I asked.

"I figured it would be May, it should be, shouldn't it?" He asked.

I smiled and took his free hand into mine across the console. "Yeah, it should be. Thanks big guy."

"You're welcome." He smiled, dimples and all and I melted.

It had been a week since we'd been together and I wanted him, really wanted him. I was about to suggest a stop off on the side of the road when Angel squeaked a little from her car seat. I was snapped back into reality and quickly grimaced. I remembered Emmett laughing about Edward who was worried he'd be read by Nessa way back at the start. Our 'activities' might be severely hindered for a while. We'd have to get creative. That sounded like fun.

**EMPOV**

I didn't know what she was grinning about over there in her seat but if she was thinking what I was thinking we were in for some interesting times.

I wanted her, like always, but with a newborn baby we'd have to take the opportunities that presented themselves, rather than doing as we pleased whenever the desire arose. And it arose plenty.

I'd laughed at Ed when he'd continued to 'date' Bella even after they were married, but now it didn't sound so dumb. A night here and there to just be Emmett and Rosalie again sounded awesome. I didn't doubt that I'd never again just be Emmett, I would forever be Angel's dad now, but I could see the advantage in a night out now and then. It was another thing I'd have to talk to him about.

When the turnoff to our road came up I sighed. Rosie did too. "Should we ask them to keep a lid on it or just let them go nuts?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we should wait to see how they behave and then decide if we have to ask them to tone it down. What do you think?"

"Good idea." I nodded my agreement.

I pulled into the driveway and took a deep breath. I was nervous and excited and worried all at once. I assumed all the guests had gone home now and I hoped I was right. This was going to be weird enough without hangers on.

"Ready?" Rosie asked quietly.

"Yeah. Let's do it." I got out of the driver's side and got into the back. Rosie did too. We were one on either side of Angel's car seat. Rosie unbuckled her and I pulled her from it. I went around to Rosie's side of the car and we both tucked her back into her blanket. She was till naked under it, it felt weird. But nothing about the situation was normal anyway. I handed her to Rosie who smiled at me in thanks.

"Welcome home little one." Rosie whispered as we went up the steps to the front door.

I expected at least Esme to come barrelling out the front door but nobody did. I opened it and held it while Rosie went inside. They were all there but they were all real quiet. I wondered if something was wrong but when I looked at each of them I could see the excitement on their faces. They were just being respectful, just as we'd hoped.

"Oh it's a girl!" Esme whispered before hugging herself tightly and reining in her excitement as best she could.

Carlisle got up first. He walked towards me with his hand held out. I shook it but I didn't know what to say so said nothing. I figured he knew. I'd tell him all about it one day, but not now. "Welcome home, son."

Next he kissed Rosie hello and peered into the blanket at Angel. "She's lovely." He whispered and went back to his seat.

Esme was next. She got up and came to me first, just like Carlisle had. I expected her to jump on the baby and ignore me and Rose, but she didn't. She put her hand on my cheek and smiled. "Welcome home, son." She kissed me then, on the cheek like my mother used to do. Emotion welled up inside me. I tamped it down and tried to get a grip. She hugged me tightly then turned to Rose. She did the same. Kissed her cheek, told her welcome home and then she looked at the baby. She ran her hand over the dark hair and smiled up at Rosie, "She's so beautiful." Then she sat back down next to Carlisle.

I figured this would happen over and over until everyone had met her and greeted us, so I put the backpack down on the floor and put my hand on Rosie's back, moving her and the baby further into the living room.

"Who's next?" I laughed.

Alice jumped up and came over. She didn't hesitate to meet the baby though. She did ignore us and went straight for the contents of the blanket. She smiled at Rosie, "Gorgeous. Good to have you home sister." After a little squeeze of Roses hand she came and kissed me on the cheek. "You too." That's all she said. It was the most subdued I'd seen Alice ever. It was unnerving.

Jaz came over then, he shook my hand and said he didn't have time to buy cigars but he would the first chance he got. I thanked him and he moved to visit with Rose. Never one for overt affection he patted her shoulder and told her he was pleased to have her back and then he looked down into the blanket. "Howdy little ma'am." He drawled. "She's content, that's a fine start you guys." He smiled.

Bella brought Nessa with her. Nessa ran to me and I scooped her up, hugging her tight. "Hey there munchkin, did you miss me?"

She put her hand to my cheek and began to show me everything I'd missed. "Hey, not now Nessa. Tomorrow darling." Bella told her. Nessa pouted but took her hand away.

"Yeah, tomorrow. You can sit and show me everything I've missed, alright?" I asked her.

She smiled then. "I missed you Emmy. If I'm real careful can I hold your baby tomorrow too? I'm always careful with Judd and Emily lets me give him his bottle." Her eyes were huge as she asked.

I didn't have the heart to say no, so I nodded. "Sure you can. You're an old hand at it now. Go and meet her." I let her down and she went to Rosie.

Rosie knelt down and showed the baby to her while I folded Bella into a tight hug. "Welcome home Em. Love you big brother." She whispered as she kissed my cheek.

Bella was special. To me she was extra special because she told me she loved me all the time. It was important to her that I knew it, and after all the bullshit she'd gone through just to get to this point I knew it wasn't so odd to want people around you to know that you loved them. So I told her all the time too. Probably more often than I told Rosie. Of course, with Rosie I could show her, but with Bella it meant a lot that she had always been comfortable enough with me to tell me straight how she felt. I kissed her hair, "I love you too little sis."

She moved on to Rosie and the baby. I watched as she kissed Rosie on the cheek and then she did the complete opposite to everyone else. She didn't dive on the baby or just pay lip service to us to get at Angel or anything. Instead she put her hand on Rosie's shoulder and asked how she was. I watched as Rose took a deep breath in and cringed.

"I don't know really." She admitted stiffly.

Bella nodded. "I know, hard to get your head around, isn't it?" It was Rosie's turn to nod then. "You know I'll help in any way I can. Name it, I'll come running sis." She put her hand to Rosie's cheek and smiled.

"I'm counting on it." Rosie replied.

They weren't especially close, not like Rosie was with Alice. But then, they'd had a lot longer to get close. Bella had only been around for three years, if you didn't count the years Emo boy spent pining for her while she was in short pants. I watched with interest as Rosie melted into Bella's touch. She was either still reeling from the emotions of the past week or she was truly frightened about what the future held for us.

My guess was it was a little from column A and a little from column B, just like me.

Bella looked into the blanket then. She gasped and came up smiling. "Oh Rosie, she's so perfect. Hello little one, I'm your Aunt Bella." She put her finger inside the little girl's fist and smiled again. Bella turned to Edward and smiled. "Don't you dare teach her to bite you." She admonished her husband with a laugh.

And then I was faced with Edward. He strode towards me and held his hand out for me to shake. I did. Then I bumped his fist and then I hugged him. I don't know why I pulled him to me, I just did. I clung to him too, as though he had all the answers and I could leech them from his body if I held him long enough.

He didn't fight me or call me a pussy or anything though, which surprised me. Maybe he felt the fear in me and maybe he'd just read how utterly terrified I was.

"You'll be great, Em." He told me as he pulled away. "I'm here when you need me." He told me and I nodded, understanding what it was he was telling me.

For all Carlisle's knowledge and Esme's caring nobody could help us with this other than Edward and Bella. They'd done it. They'd been right where we were now and they'd made it. Nessa was still here and they'd had to actually physically fight for her only a few days ago. All we had to worry about was not fucking up a blank canvass.

Edward ignored my internal rant and moved to his sister. He put his hand on the small of her back and peered over her shoulder at the baby. I wondered if he could read her. Would he be able to tell us what the baby was thinking? Had we made any mistakes yet? Did she even like us? Did she miss May and did she even know who Eric was?

Edward shot me a scowl over his shoulder and I tried to rein in my worries.

"She's beautiful Rose, really lovely." He kissed his sisters cheek and returned to watching the baby. "She loves you both already, so stop panicking you two." He laughed lightly. He turned to me then and with a small smile he waggled his finger at me. "She knows May was her mother...before, but now Rose is, so she'd like you to please call her mommy from now on, not Rosie."

Esme gasped and Bella sighed. I couldn't do or say anything. I just nodded.

**RPOV**

All I could do was smile down at her. She was so perfect and she'd captivated them all just like I knew she would.

"Are you going to tell us her name?" Esme asked, emotion filling her voice.

Edward went and sat back down between his girls and Em came to stand beside me. This was what Emmett had been waiting for, just like Edward had been when Nessa was born. He was proud, and should be, to announce his daughter to the family.

He squared his shoulders and smiled widely. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce our daughter. This is Angel May McCarty Cullen."

All the women gasped in pleasure, all the men clapped. It wasn't as wild or as loud as it had been when Edward announced Nessa's name, but I was glad about that. I'd wanted it to be reserved and respectful.

"Has she fed?" Carlisle asked carefully. I shook my head. "I've arranged it all, I'll have it in the morning, I have to go in early, I'll bring it back straight away."

"Thank you." I knew what he meant, he had organised pouches of blood for her. I was grateful.

I didn't know what to do now. I hadn't thought past this point. Past introducing her. She didn't even have any clothes! Where would she sleep? She needed a bath and so did we. What was going to happen to May's body? Where was Eric's? Where were all the guests? Would I be expected at work?

"Rosie." I heard my name and looked up from the baby. It was Edward, obviously he'd read my panic. So had Jaz. I felt the wave of calm spread over me. I shot him a mouthed thank you and turned my attention back to Ed. "Stop worrying, please." He got to his feet and came towards me. He put his hand on the small of my back again and I relaxed into him. He'd always been there for me, right from the instant Carlisle had found me bloodied and dying on the street, it had been Edward who'd soothed me and who had known what to do and what to say. "I know you wanted to do this part Alice, but I'll take them up." He said.

Alice huffed but nodded all the same. I'd never seen Alice give in so easily. She was the queen of the big reveal. I had no idea what they'd done, but there was obviously something upstairs that would quell the insecurities Edward had read from me. The fact that Alice remained in her seat as Edward led the three of us upstairs was mighty significant.

Things had changed in the Cullen house since we'd been gone.

"Things have changed Rosie." Edward whispered as he pushed open our suite door.

I went inside and scoffed in shock. Everything was different, yet strangely the same. Em stood beside me, he was in shock too. Our sitting room had been changed into a little nursery. It had gone from chrome desks and book cases lined with glass shelves and car magazines to white frilled curtains and a crib lined with lace. There was a tiny dresser and a change table that had every lotion and potion a baby could ever need. There were stuffed toys and clothes, a rocking chair and even a mobile hanging from the ceiling to amuse the baby.

Emmett started laughing when he saw the mobile. It had six perfect replicas of his beloved Monster motorbike hanging from silver threads. "It's perfect, thanks dude." He shook Edward's hand.

"Don't thank me, this is all Alice Esme and Bella." He told us. "All your other things are in the attic, but we can sort those out and work out where you want them later."

Emmett waved his hand as if to dismiss the thought. "Yeah, don't sweat it, I don't want them back, this is perfect." All I could do was goggle at my husband.

He didn't want his beloved collection of magazines back? He'd loved that study. Sometimes I had actually felt jealous of the way he loved that study! He spent hours in it pouring over his books and working on blueprints at his desk. And now he was saying he didn't want them back?

Edward chuckled and flashed me a smile. "A baby changes everything Rosie." He laughed. "Listen, so much has happened and I know you want to hear all about it, but for now we just want you all to settle in. There wasn't time to put in a tub in your ensuite, so you'll have to put her in the one in the hall, but we can sort that out too in time. If you need anything, or we've forgotten something that Angel needs, call out, we'll get it right away." With that he squeezed my hand and bent to kiss my cheek. "May's body will arrive in the morning, we thought we should bury her here so Angel can visit whenever she wants. Is that alright?" He asked.

All I could do was nod.

Emmett ran to him and pulled him into another hug. I'd never seen Emmett hug another guy before, only Edward. Then again, I'd seen and heard Emmett doing a lot of things he'd never done and said before in the last week.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate everything you've done." He clapped Ed on the back once more and let him go. Edward looked shell shocked, it was pretty funny to see the usually together Edward have his 'fearless leader' persona cracked by the big guy.

Edward turned to me and grimaced. "Fearless leader? What are you on woman?" He scoffed, shook his head and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

Emmett was laughing his head off. The baby began to wriggle in her blanket. "How about we bath her and put some clothes on her?" I asked my sniggering husband.

He was at my side then, peering down at Angel. "Sounds good but I want to ask you something first. Come and sit down here." He pulled me with him to the edge of the bed. I put Angel into his lap and he beamed at me. He probably didn't expect me to want to share her, idiot, we were in this together. "I was thinkin, we could do what Eddie and Bell's did you know? I could build us a little place of our own out in the woods but we could stay here whenever you wanted to too, but we'd have some space of our own and so would Angel. What do you think?" He crinkled his eye brows up as though he was worried what my reaction was going to be.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I love you Emmett McCarty. I think that's a fantastic idea."

"You do?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do. We're a family now, we should have a family home, like they do. I'll let you build whatever you want, on one condition." I told him sternly, trying to keep the smile from my lips.

"Oh yeah, what's that Rosie?" He chuckled.

"I want a bigger tub than Eddie the pale white knights got."

"Stop calling me fucking Eddie!" Edward bellowed from downstairs. "Ow, don't hit me woman."

Laughter rang out in the house and I wondered if it was the first time I a week that it had.

* * *

**A/N: This is the final chapter in this little story. Thank you for reading, I do hope you've enjoyed it.**

**Of course there are many questions left unanswered and a lot of catching up to do for Emmett and Rose, but that will happen in the next book. **

**Please review if you have found something of merit in this little tale. If you haven't review anyway, I do love the chance to explain why I've done things a certain way. **

**The children (yes both of them went today Patchar and Scrapjul, a minor miracle yes?:)) have returned to school today so I should have a first chapter or so uploaded in the next day or two for the new book. Sans a title still at this point. Thinking caps on please ladies. **

**Kind regards to you and yours,**

**maxi**

**xxx**


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